Day 4–Total Surrender. I should never be surprised when I find that the topic of my devotional and the scripture reading for the morning are all centered around what God is teaching–Surrender. The devotional message was directly talking about staying close to the world but being separate of it. In so doing, we may be criticized by the ones around us for not conforming to the world’s ways. God asks us to represent Him and His Word and not conform to the ways of the world. Then, in Daniel 3 & 4 the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is told. They were to be destroyed in the fiery furnace, but instead, they were protected and the king promoted them because of their faithfulness to their Almighty God.

We will likely not have any book written about our faithfulness, but God is asking me to have a faithfulness that looks as resolute as His scripture. We may never know until we cross into heaven the impact of our living for Jesus. Nonetheless, I want to live committed fully each and every moment of the day.

One last thing, today’s lesson in Mending the Soul is addressing the explicit damage from sexual abuse. Our prayer warrior Lois is aware of this as I talked with her yesterday. This morning I’ve praised God for the miracles of healing He is starting as we step into this most traumatic topic which still makes me feel ill. Yet, I have learned that healing has its own pain as the wounds are opened. I rejoice in this pain for this time the pain is connected to healing and freedom. These men haven’t found it yet, but healing is starting. Praise GOD!