Y is for Yielded
Standing before the cross, tears streamed down my face as I clenched the tiny pink and blue outfits to my chest. My heart was protesting as I laid the tiny outfits my babies wore home from the hospital so many years ago at the foot of the cross.
Yielding is crazy hard. At that moment, trusting God seemed counter intuitive. But, in the days and weeks that followed, I saw changes in my children -and in me, that can only be credited to God. Now, when I’m clinging too tightly, I pull the outfits from the box and find peace as I lay them at the cross. There are still tears, but now they are tears of relief – because I know God’s got this.
“You become stronger only when you become weaker. When you surrender your will to God, you discover the resources to do what God requires.” -Erwin Lutzer
The seemingly painful yielding is actually a gift from God. It brings peace, joy, and 
blessings. The idea that we are ever in control is an illusion. Yet, I still find I forget and
kick and scream like a toddler when I don’t get my way. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lam 3:22-23. God doesn’t ask us to surrender to him so we will be miserable. Just the opposite – He asks us to surrender so He can bless us abundantly.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Gal 2:20
When did you first do this? Do I understand that you still sometimes do it to remind yourself? What a moving picture! No wonder you cry…
A couple of months ago God and I were arguing about the best path for one of my children. He reminded me of when we had dedicated the kids to Him as babies – I stopped praying, ran downstairs, rummaged through the hope chest, found and washed their outfits and laid them at the cross. They now stay in a chest at the foot of the cross with other items that symbolize areas of my life that need to continually be surrendered. Anytime I’m clinging too tightly, God gently reminds me to pull the items out of the box and leave them at the cross for the day.