What If?

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” - Matthew 16:25

What if it was your dream, the one you carried quietly, the one you never thought would breathe beyond imagination?

What if you laid it down to care for what Jesus had already entrusted to you; family, calling, responsibility?

What if, after years of waiting, the door finally opened and then God whispered, “Will you release it? Will you surrender that dream to Me, that goal to Me, your hopes to Me?”

This is the tension of obedience. I’m not chasing the greater gift He may have hidden behind His back. I’m not bargaining for reward. I’m choosing surrender because I’ve already said yes.

My obedience is not about what I gain, it’s about who I trust. That’s the essence of our yes to Jesus. We can say it with our lips, we can sing it with our voices, but the question remains, do we live it with our lives?

We are intelligent, accomplished, and capable. The world’s measures prove nothing, and even our own definitions fall short. True identity is found only in Christ Jesus. Surrender is not about loss, it’s about alignment. It is about laying down what we thought we needed, so we can stand in who He says we are. It’s about trusting that the truest yes is not found in achievement, but in surrender.

Journal Reflection:

• What dream or goal feels hardest to surrender to God right now?

• How do you wrestle with obedience when it costs you something deeply personal?

• Write about the difference between saying “yes” with your lips and living “yes” with your life.

• Reflect on how your identity in Christ redefines your success beyond society’s measures.

  
  

Prayer:

Lord, I lay before You the dreams I’ve carried, the goals I’ve pursued, the hopes I’ve held close.

I confess that surrender feels costly and releasing what I long for feels like loss. Yet I choose obedience. Not because it’s easy, but because I have said yes to You.

Teach me to embody my yes, not only with words but with the posture of my life.

Shape my heart so that surrender is not a moment, but a rhythm.

Remind me that my worth is not measured by achievement or by the world’s definitions, but by the unshakable truth of who I am in Christ.

When I wrestle with letting go, breathe courage into my weakness.

When I feel lifeless, breathe Your Spirit into my soul. Let my surrender be the place where You are glorified, and let my obedience testify that the truest yes lives in surrender.

Amen.