Gentleness. One of the fruits of the spirit in Galatians. Know much about it? I think it's one fruit a lot of us could work harder in showing. One way to look at gentleness is as a humble submission to God's will. And that submission to God can happen before or after a situation.
When you know you're about to face a difficult time, do you submit to God and surrender all control to him? For me, a time I knew would be hard was The World Race. I knew it wouldn't be easy and would face many trials. I would be away from my friends and family for almost a year, be traveling and living with 50 people I've never met before, and would be going to 11 countries I've never been to before. I would have to rely on God for many things and know that this was his plan for me. Submitting to God before a difficult time in your life means bowing down before God and trusting him with everything.
Before coming on this trip, I was a very independent person, had trust issues with people, and would just figure things out for myself before asking for help. So committing to live 24/7 with people for a whole year was a huge leap of faith for me. But I knew that God's plan is always better than mine, and I had to fully surrender control to see his big plans happen for me.
But you just can't say you're submitting to God. Many people are good with words and know the right things to say before God. But he knows our every feeling and thought and we can't fool him, as much as some of us try to. You have to show you're surrendering by your actions.
And many times you can see if you're really bowing down before God after you're faced with a difficult situation. Submitting to God after a hard time in your life, is a really hard thing to do. Submitting to God after a hard time means giving up the right to be mad. We can still cry out to god when things are hard, he doesn't want us to stop doing that. But sometimes even when we're yelling out to God for help, he doesn't take away the pain. And we can't get mad at him for that. Because he knows that on the other side of the pain, is a good thing.
Just a month into my trip back in February, I hurt my knee badly playing basketball. I've hurt my knees before playing sports so I wasn't too concerned, but after a couple days it wasn't getting better. I cried out to God, begging him to heal my knee. I didn't want to miss out on ministry by having to stay back without the team because of my knee. Well, my knee got worse before it got better. Less than a week after I first hurt my knee, I could barely walk. It hurt so bad that I couldn't get comfortable at night to even fall asleep. And again I cried out to God. I was done with this knee injury. Why was I going through this on my trip?
I sometimes have a hard time asking people for help, so I thought that was the lesson I was supposed to learn. But God needed more than a week with me being injured to learn that lesson. I had a huge leg cast for three very long weeks. I could have reacted two very different ways when I heard this. I could have been really mad at God, saying he didn't hear my prayers, and just gave up and flew home where things were easy and comfortable.
But I chose to submit to God's will and trust he had big lessons for me to learn through this difficult situation. I chose to let go of the control. I chose not to be mad at God. And I did learn big lessons after five total weeks of being injured. I learned its okay to ask for help. And what it really meant to rest in the Lord. And one big lesson I learned was to be more patient, especially with God's timing. And now, I can help other people with letting go of the control and trusting God.
Trust me, submitting to god is not an easy task. Just look at Job in the Bible. Satan took away his oxen, sheep, camels, and even his sons and daughters. He could have been really angry and blamed everything on God, but he didn't. He says in verse 21 and 22 of chapter 1:
“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD
gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
And again after Satan afflicted Job with painful sores on his whole body, he still did not sin in cursing God. Chapter 2, verse 9 and 10 reads:
His wife said to him “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good
from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
How easy would it have been for Job to just listen to his wife. To be angry with God and just give up on life. He had lost almost everything and yet fully trusted God that his will was best. Both trials he went through were deeply wounding. He fully submitted to God but it was difficult.
Wounds can be painful, filled with hurt and sadness. But the scars we then receive from wounds God healed become the marks of his grace and trust. Yes, submitting to God's will and fully letting go of control is not always easy. But its necessary. Submit to God before and after difficult situations. And bow down before him and trust him completely.
