It's about trust and surrender...

    Thirty-eight year old Sarah, and her husband, Will, had two children and were expecting a third. When she received her prenatal results, the news was devastating. Her baby, a girl, was diagnosed with Edward syndrome (trisomy 18), a genetic disorder that causes physical growth delays during fetal development. Life expectancy is usually short.
    They scheduled an amniocentesis which would confirm the results and help them determine whether or not to terminate the pregnancy. Although abortion was not an option, they were not sure they had the faith to turn it over to God and trust Him for the outcome. Sarah cried out to God asking Him for a Word to direct them what to do. It was then that she heard God through the voice of her unborn daughter telling her to tell them to leave her alone, she was just fine. Sarah knew what to do. When her husband came home from work she told him that they were not going to do the amniocentesis. He responded that God had told him the same thing. They both had peace after that. Sarah cancelled the appointment and they gave their daughter a name, Lively Rain. 
    For the next thirty-three weeks, they had no idea whether or not their baby would be born with the disorder but the couple and their family prayed. When Lively Rain was finally born, she showed no signs of Edward syndrome. As Sarah’s obstetrician said, she was perfect. Five years later, Lively continues to be healthy thanks to the power of prayer. Sarah’s advice to any parent would be to gather your information, lay it at His feet, let Him have the final say and expect to hear Him.
    A few things come to my attention. They admit that they did not have the faith to turn the problem over to God and trust Him for the outcome. That is not unfamiliar to many of us. We know what God can do. We have heard what He has done for others but we are not sure that He will come through for us. Also, the problem can seem so overwhelming that fear is greater than faith. I also believe that many times we are fearful that He will not work it out the way we would like. We know what we want the end result to be but are afraid that His end result for us will be different. This is where trust and surrender come in. It’s about surrendering our will and desires to God and trusting that however He chooses to work it out, it will be for our good. His Word says that all things work together for good to those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). 
    Sometimes we may have to decide if what we want is more important than His perfect plan for us. We may have to ask ourselves if we will still love and serve Him if we don’t get our way. It can be tough but the end result He has for us will always be worth it. I am learning this as He reminds me that when I focus on Him and allow Him to be the centre of my life, whatever He has for me will be above and beyond what I could hope for. As He has promised, He knows the plans that He has for me and these plans are to prosper me NOT to harm me, to give me hope and a future. 
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. We can’t always stop negative situations from coming our way. Yet, our Heavenly Father invites us to place those challenges at His feet and allow Him to do what we can’t.  He knows the good plans that He has for us. They will not change no matter what negative thing comes our way. It is about trust, it is about surrender...

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