Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss. Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets. And now, isn’t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart. – 2 Corinthians 7:9-11

This week’s theme in my Surrendering the Secret study had us exchange the belief of defining ourselves only as the ultimate decision maker in terminating our pregnancy for the Truth that we are Daughters of  a Mighty, Sovereign and Forgiving King. However, I believe this exercise can be done for anyone who has been living with a false belief that does not align with the Truth God has; anything that keeps you from living in the divine power you have living inside of you as a believer and follower of Christ.

“If we’ll allow our pain and sorrow to drive us toward God rather than away from Him, we’ll experience transformation, healing and new life.”* God could have ended our experience with transformation and healing, but just to show how much He loves us, He added new life. When we are in Christ, we have been completely cleansed of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) and have been made new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Unfortunately all of this change can be quite intimidating and scary. We feel that we are either 1. not worthy, 2. not equipped, or 3. not called to this “new life”. “Fear is often the greatest enemy to meaningful life change. So we long to return to what’s familiar rather than take risks and face the unknown”* which keeps us from the full transformation experience He has for us. The amazing part in this, is that as we recognize our inability to do anything ourselves, we lean on Him more and the Glory goes to Him…where it should be. Lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5b-6).

We are all called to something much greater than ourselves, so we need Someone Greater than ourselves to accomplish it, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

*Quotes from Surrendering the Secret study