There are mornings which are troubling and today is one of them. Yesterday had a troubling session with a young man I’ve worked with in Celebrate Recovery as well as in counseling. He is stuck and (I was too). So much of his struggle has to do with thinking we ought to be able to make any change from our own strength. He is a very disciplined young man and extremely responsible as well. This is noted in every aspect of his life. So, why would one struggle with such good characteristics?

The question comes to mind–“Who is managing these good characteristics, man or God?” My devotional message seemed to hit the spot today. A quote from it said, “God has a good purpose for every situation and stressor you encounter. THis may appear odd to you today if your life is especially busy, painful, or out of control. But understand, there are no coincidences with Him. He is the Architect behind every blessing that comes your way–and many times that begins with helping you understand how weak you are on your own.”

It is a daily commitment to surrender our will to God. I don’t care how good our characteristics are. In our own strength, they will fail at some point and Satan always uses this to manipulate our thinking that we are a failure. It is then one recalls that God is teaching another lesson on surrender. This happens to me so often. Trying to help someone else recognize this–well it is another thing to surrender. God is the GREAT LIGHT, I just need to point to Him and surrender the rest. I did that this morning as I sent this devotional message to the young man.