Do you ever feel like you’re kind of a natural when it comes to getting in your way? It’s not anything I’m proud to be good at, but I’ve pretty much nailed it over the years. I’m a “doer” and I love making a list and getting stuff done so that I can check the box or run my highlighter over the tasks I wrote down. Let’s face it. A to-do list feels best when it’s done, right? It’s kind of like we’re saying to ourselves, “Look at me and all that I accomplished on my own today.”  

But what about those things, those situations, those outcomes you and I are desperately hoping and praying for that simply can’t be placed on a list and crossed off no matter how much action we try to take or how hard we insist on attempting to control the outcome? A lesson I’ve had to learn over and over again, and that I am in the midst of working through once again, is that we need to give God room to show himself faithful. And one of the most challenging things I’ve found in walking this out is that we must decrease and God must increase. In other words, we need to get out of our own way, so that God can show us THE way. We must remember that His way is guaranteed to lead to a more beautiful destination/outcome than our way. More of God and less of us. I know this can be a tough pill to swallow, especially for us “doers” who find great joy in seeing what we can do more of to make a difference.  God wants to use our circumstances to change as from the inside out. But He can’t do that critical inside work without our willingness and commitment to let go. He is faithful and He wants to show us this over and over and over again if we would just free up some space for Him.