No amount of determination will bring freedom. We’re going to learn to be victorious by surrendering our lives completely to the Spirit of God, not by gritting our teeth and trying harder. —Beth Moore
“Over twenty years, there have been so many times that I’ve wanted to throw in the towel, to walk away, and to go back to the business world,” Tass says. “Yet God has reminded me that when He gives us the vision, He makes the provision.” — Tass, Gift of Disillusionment
Spirit-Filled Transformation On our own, we don’t have what it takes to make this world look like God’s Kingdom, nor can we will ourselves to love others with the sacrificial, selfless love Christ has shown us. It’s only when God breaks into our lives that we are empowered to love the people we find hardest to love. This flies in direct contradiction to our culture’s messages to try harder, grit it out, or muster up the willpower to forgive. For Tass, and for us, the answer is not more effort. Rather, the answer lies in surrender. Enduring hope flows not from self-help but only from God’s help and redemptive power.
These leaders are not heroes of their own stories. Instead, each of them acknowledged reaching a point in their journeys where they came to the end of their own strength and reached out to God in desperation. Surrender came when they had no choice but to look up. This became the defining moment of their lives. At the core, their stories—and ours—reflect a powerful Redeemer at work. Our own efforts yield disappointments and dead ends. Yet these moments of desperation can lead to the most beautiful moments of transformation as we surrender and submit.