"Surrendering Control: Ep 6: A Journey to Faith and Freedom"

0:00 Music. Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host, Connie Morris, where truth speaks, healing begins, and every word is rooted in faith. Before we begin, let us go before the Lord in prayer. Father God, we thank you for this moment. We thank you for every listener, every heart, and every home represented. We invite your presence into this space. As we begin, we stand on the words of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4.10.

0:42 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Lord. Today we echo that same prayer. Bless us indeed. Bless every woman listening. Bless her mind, her body, her relationships, her dreams, and her destiny. Let your blessing not only surround her, but transform her. Enlarge our coast. Stretch us beyond what we thought was possible. Expand our influence, our impact, and the reach of this message.

1:24 Not for our glory, but for yours. Let your hand be with us. Go before us in every conversation. Guide our words, anoint our purpose, and let every episode carry your truth with clarity and power. Keep us from evil that it may not grieve us. Shield us from harm, from cycles of sorrow, from spiritual attack and emotional heaviness. Cover us in your grace so we rise in strength, not in grief, in wholeness, not in wounds. And just as you granted Jabez what he requested, Lord, grant it unto us. Let this podcast be a wellspring of truth, a refuge for healing, and a launchpad for purpose. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

2:09 Hello, and welcome back to Diary of a Black Woman's Podcast. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and we are continuing our series of When God Wants to Talk. Today is episode six, Surrendering Control. Our foundational scripture, and probably there's many more, but the main one is. 1 Peter 5, 7. It says, all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. When God calls us in the stillness of the night, it often shines a light on things we hold too tightly, our plans, our fears, and our worries, even our dreams.

2:49 You know, when I think about that, I just want to pause right here because many times in the night dreams or in the night hours, that's when everything is quiet, everything is still. And that's when we really begin to think or wonder or maybe even worry, what does tomorrow hold for me? And that's when God may show up and maybe tell us to stop worrying. Surrender, surrender control, cast all your anxiety on him for he cares for you. And that's that personal time when he walks in the room and tells us to let go of our plans, let go of our fears, let go of our worries, let go of our dreams, how we thought things may work out.

3:36 Because that's when he shows up and tells us that what we thought was his plans, maybe are not his plans, and that we may be holding those things too tightly. So he invites us to surrender control and to trust him completely. This can be a difficult lesson because surrender feels like we are losing control, but in God's hands, surrender is not loss, it's freedom. You know, as you know, as. I don't know how to say this. You know, when you're a new Christian, things happen one, two, three. Sometimes you get the blessing of the Lord and things are just rolling right along. But as you're a mature Christian, things seem to take a little bit longer.

4:19 Can I get an amen for that? But as we begin to mature, God begins to take away some things that we hold so tightly. For instance, when you have your child and they first learn how to ride a bike, first you have on the training wheels. You know, then you maybe lift those training wheels up a little bit. He knows they're there, but he, so he doesn't, he count on them, but not as much as when he was younger. And then on that one day, when you say no more training wheels, then he starts out a little slow, a little steady, but then he realized that he or she doesn't really need those training wheels. A lot of times we as Christians, we have training wheels on, you know, we don't realize we have those training wheels on until God began to remove things out of our way.

5:08 Things that we may call as security. We count on our job when God tells us that he's our provider. You know, we count on maybe the pastor too much. And when God says, I need you to hear my voice and go, but we can't hear his voice because we're too busy trying to hear the pastor's voice. Nothing wrong with following your pastor, but sometimes we maybe override our pastors, our God's voice, because we can't hear over God's voice because we have the pastor too high on a pedestal. You know, we honor our pastors, but we don't worship our pastors. Only God is the one that deserves to worship. So when God gives us an opportunity, when he steps into the room and he tells us to let go.

5:55 That, and he speaks directly to your heart. I remember that time I was sharing with you working that crazy job, and I remember getting up, and I didn't hear nothing about, Lord, can I just quit this job? I know I prayed for it. I know I thank you for this job, but as you can see, this job is taken away from that thing that you have asked me to do. It's interfering with it. And he says, yes, you can quit this job. At the time when he said that, It wasn't like there was a job the next day that I had. I had to really trust him that he was gonna be that provider. But before he even, when he said that, I said, I want to do it. And then in the morning, just a whisper. He says, I have a ram in the bush for you.

6:38 And so I just picked up the Bible and figure out where did God say that? Who did he say that to? And why did he say that to that person? And remember, the story is of Abraham. When Abraham was asked to crucify or kill his only son, and as he was obedient, as he He got up in the morning as he heard the voice and he obeyed the voice and he went to a place he did not know. And as he walked up the mountain to do what he was going to do was kill his son. All of a sudden, as he tied up his son and did what he was going to do because he was obedient to God and like the oddest thing to do, it was suddenly there was rush in the bush, a rustling in the bush.

7:23 And then a voice from God that says, do not touch that son. Do not kill your son. You see how that voice in the time of trouble was so important. Remember, he practiced hearing God's voice when he wasn't stressed. So when it was a time with that moment where he really needed to hear God's voice, guess what? He heard it clearly. And he also heard in the bush a ram that was waiting to be sacrificed. There's a lot to that story, but just for the sake of when God wants to talk, I want to pause there because it says here in 1 Peter, like I said earlier. It says, cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

8:06 Do you think that Abraham cast his anxiety on God because he cared for him? He had to as he was on that journey to a place he did not know to kill his only son as unto God for obedience. Right? So what do we hold so tightly to our chest that if God asks us to let that go, will we do that? So what are we holding on so tightly? Holding on until control can wear us down, can leave us anxious, exhausted, and distant from God. Yet his word reminds us, come to me all ye who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest, Matthew 11, 23.

8:48 Surrendering to God allows him to carry the weight we were never meant to carry. Consider Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, faced with the cross. He prayed, not my will, but yours be done, in Luke 22, 42. In the ultimate act of surrender, Jesus placed his trust in the Father's plan, even when it was painful. Like Jesus, we are called to release our grip on our lives and trust God's perfect will. We are called to release our grip on God's, on our life, and trust in His perfect will. Let's go deeper.

9:29 The question I want to hold to you is what are you holding on to? Reflect on what you're afraid to let go. Is the decision, a relationship, a plan, or a fear of the unknown? Surrender begins by identifying what's keeping you from fully trusting God. And so I just want to pause here for a moment. And, you know, for a while, I remember that was so powerful when he whispered that to me in prayer. And even though I was working a lot of hours, I still managed to get up and just seek God's face about what to do next. And when he said, I had a ram in the bush for you, didn't know what that was. And then things were happening positive.

10:10 And he says, that's not it. That's not it. So I still have not received that reward that God has promised me. But what that did when I released that job to him, when I released that worry to him, like, I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know I can't keep doing this. You ever had that feeling? I know this is not it. But many people will stay in a job working, it's a song, nine to five or maybe nine to nine, because they're so, they won't, they say, I can't, I don't know what I'll do if I let this job go. You know, there's a Bible scripture said in the, I think it's Malachi 3.10, said if you give, bring your tithes and offering into the house, he said he'll rebuke the devourer for his namesake, right?

10:54 So that means that if you're doing what you're supposed to do with your money, then you're not living off of your money. You're living off of God's protection, living off of his provision, right? And so that means you don't have to depend on the guy at the job to do that. I remember that too. That was so powerful. Thank you, Holy Ghost. I remember because the job was, you have to keep track of everything. The job was one of those jobs that you were kind of like your own consultant and you can have a lot of hours one week and no hours, no week, you know, and so you're, and you can, it was just an odd feeling to be. In that position. And I remember the guy's name, I won't say his name on the air. And he says, and I heard the Lord, I was sitting in the car as I was calculating the hours to make sure I had enough for that week.

11:40 And the Lord told me that was one time he says, such and such is not your provider. So that's the one time he said that. And I think he said it in such a firm voice that it was like he was upset. Now we know the voice of God. God has, if we think about it, if we can get upset. You know, God can get upset. So let's not play like he's always happy. God can get upset, right? And he said in such a firm way, loving, firm way that this person was not your provider. And that really shook me because I was trying to make A equal B equal C. And it was just an odd feeling because I felt odd doing it. But then I realized that what was I holding onto?

12:24 Am I trying to be God for me? Or am I really going to let God be my provider? You know, that was kind of a long story to go a long ways, but what are you holding on to? Number two, surrender brings peace. When you release your burdens to God, you make room for his peace to fill your heart. Philippians 4, 6-7 reminds us that his peace will guard our hearts and mind when we bring our concerns to him in prayer. And you know, if you are out there and you don't have peace, when you surrender your burdens to God, it brings peace. It just takes that heavy burden off of you. It's like carrying a big old backpack full of weight that you're not really meant to carry, right?

13:11 God says surrender brings peace. And he said, when you do that, you bring your concern to him, then he will give you this perfect peace. So remember, what are you holding on to? And remember that surrender brings peace. Number three, trust in his care. God doesn't ask for surrender to take something from you, but to give you something better. His rest, his guidance, and his provision. Trust that he cares deeply for you and knows what's best. So how would you, there's a point How would you know what's best if you never really trust? That's what I was going to say. But how would you know? How would you know, though?

13:52 You know, the question is, at some point in your Christian life, you will have to let go. You will have to come to that crossroad, same way that Jesus did. Jesus says, if there's another way, can I take the shortcut? And then he said, no, let your will be done. And then he followed through what had to be done. But that was even Jesus at that crossroad. So there's always this point where it gets really bad, where you wish there was a shortcut. We all come to that point in our life where we have to surrender, we have to trust, and we have to let go. Let's go on with the scripture. Proverbs 16, 3, it says, Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.

14:37 How many know that our plans, they're good, but when you submit them to God, they become better. True peace comes from entrusting your plans to God and not controlling the outcome. We try to control the outcome, but you know we can't. We try our best to want. We got a plan. We got a plan, and that plan never comes to fruition because we do not control the outcome because we did not get the plan originally. It's God's plan from the beginning. Remember, he's the author and the finisher of our faith. So he starts it and he finishes it. But here we come, little old humans trying to mix in the middle and try to figure out how to bring this together.

15:22 No, you know, get out of the way. Get out of the way. Proverbs 16, 9 also reads, it says, in their hearts, human plans their course, but God establishes their steps. So he still has a, God is so good. He knows our human ways. And he says, the humans in their hearts, they're still going to get in my way, but I am going to establish their steps. Our control is so limited, but God's sovereignty is limitless. We have to learn to let God do God's stuff in our lives and not to be such, so controlling. And I know I used to be that way, but it gave, I think it probably gave me high blood pressure.

16:05 I used to have high blood pressure because I wanted everything to work out perfect and you working it out, trying to make it perfect and it still don't work out and you do it again and try to work out perfect and it doesn't work out, I let it go and the blood pressure went too. I said, hey, it's easier to live this way. Whatever will be, will be. Come on, whatever will be, will be. I wake up, I'm breathing, Lord God, what's your plan for me today? I'm not gonna stress it. You know, if it goes this way, I'm not going to stress. If it goes left or right, I'm not going to stress it. Exodus 14, 14, I love this. It says, the Lord will fight for you. Only need, you only, you need only to be still. The Lord will fight for you. You only need to be still.

16:47 Surrender is not passivity. It's an act of faith that allows God to work on your behalf. Our pastor preached on that pretty much for three months. So this 1414, the Lord will fight for you. You only need to be still. So what can you do? What are some action steps for you, to surrender. What are some action steps for you to surrender? We understand to go deeper, you need to kind of figure out what are you holding on to. Surrender brings peace, trust in God's care. Some people even try to hold on. It reminds me of vanity. It's a lady at work I just met and she says she gets Botox treatment.

17:32 Beautiful, beautiful black lady. So I get Botox treatments and all this stuff. Sometimes we want to hold on to beauty. Aging is a bad thing. Sometimes we want to hold on. Some people are getting, I don't know what those call when you want to have the big butt, you know, you want to, you're holding on to vanity. There's stories of people who go all the way to different, out of the country to have this fat replacement so you can have a big butt. I don't know what all that stuff is about. That's vanity. If you read your Bible, you know that Solomon was the richest man in the whole wide world, and he learned that it was nothing but vanity. You know, vanity.

18:15 He had everything, and he realized it was nothing but vanity. You can't take it with you. We can't take it with you. Let's continue our series when God wants to talk. Sometimes he wants us to release some things. Some action steps we can do, though. We can have a prayer for release. So you can pray a simple prayer of surrender. Name the specific thing you're holding on so tight and then give it to God. You know, just give it to Him. Say, hey, I got to let this go. Some things we do, we become hoarders. So I remember if I buy something new, I give it away. If I haven't wore it in about three to six months, I only think I will wear it. So I give it away. I still got some purging to do. I just thought about that right now.

18:58 One example is, Lord, I release my fear about the future into your hands, and I trust you to guide me. Just a simple prayer, you know, a simple prayer. I have my son, he called me random, and he says, Mom, I was just thinking that it's time for you to retire. I'm thinking, like, he's sitting in his home thinking about when I should retire. And I said, okay, thank you, son. Now, once I do that, which I tried it already, it didn't work for me. So once I do that, what should I do? come live with you and sit on your couch all day since you want me to retire, since that's something that you are so interested in me doing. That's not what I'm going to do, son. So stop thinking about me.

19:40 I said, why don't you retire and tell me how you like it? And then we can have that talk again. Another thing about some action steps is create a let-go list. How about that? Write down some things you feel God is asking you to release. Then symbolically let them go by tearing the list or placing it in your Bible as a sign of surrender. How about making that list and seeing what is it physical, is it mental, is it spiritual? If it's physical, the best way to let those things go is to give them away to somebody who can use it. You know, you can say, you know what, I have 12 coats. Only you can wear one at a time. And sometime in the season, I only wear three of these coats.

20:20 So I'm going to give the other nine away. That's a way of letting go, right? Or if you have some regret or some, you know, people get angry and they don't know how to let go. How do you let that go? Just let it go. Write scriptures, write a decree about it and find a way to let that go. And then you can practice daily surrender. each morning, ask God to take control of your day. Say, not my will, but yours be done. And so some ways we just got to practice letting go. And another way of practice letting go is don't hold on to everything, right? So you don't create a hoarder list where you have to always have a release time.

21:00 Like you know that, dang, I always hold on to that. I'm not going to hold on to that anymore. So practice a way of not being a hoarder of things, spiritual things, physical things. Just get into a habit of just always releasing it before you go to bed. So you don't have to have a little hoarder list to go to or to release. It's such a way to live free. So you can pray for release. You can create a let go list. You can practice a daily surrender. Or my new list is practice letting go all the time. Don't be a magnet to stuff. Don't be a magnet to gossip. Don't be a magnet to negativity. Just be an anti. Push it away every time it tries to come towards you.

21:45 Let's pray. Father, I come to you with open hands and I release everything I've been holding on to so, so tightly. Today, my fears, take my fears, my plans, and my need for control. Place them with your. Replace them with your peace and your purpose. Teach me to trust you fully, knowing that you care for me and work all things for my good. I surrender to you, Lord, and I choose to rest in your care. In Jesus' name, amen. The challenge for the week is this week, each time you feel anxious or tempted to take control, pause and pray.

22:26 Lord, I give this to you. I think if you make this a daily habit, then you will live a life of surrender. So when God wants to talk to you, He will have free access to you because you're not full of a whole bunch of stuff, right? Write down how it feels to release these burdens and reflect on any way you see God's hands working in your situation. And how does it feel just to be free? who the Son has set free is free indeed. And God desires that we walk in freedom. And freedom is when we surrender control and we let God do what He wants to do in our life.

23:10 And so when God wants to talk to you and He tells you to let that go, let it go. Walk in that freedom. So this is Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and I'm so glad that you have joined me on this spiritual ride of letting go and surrendering everything to God. If this episode has really blessed you, make sure you subscribe and share with someone who needs it most. Until next time, God bless you. Bye. As we close this episode of the Diary of a Black Woman podcast, we declare the word of the Lord from Jeremiah 29 11. I speak this over every listener. You will rise again.

23:53 You will recover what was lost, and you will walk boldly into what God has prepared with no shame, no fear, and no apology. May every broken place become a place of breakthrough. May every delay become divine preparation. And may the fire of God stir up every gift lying dormant within you. This is more than a podcast. This is a call to arms. We're not just healing. We're rising. We're not just telling stories. We're building an army of women walking in truth, in power, and in purpose. This has been the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host, Connie Morris. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone God is calling higher.

24:38 Visit www.diaryofablackwomanllc.com to stay connected, get resources, and join the movement. And I'll see you on the next episode, because God's not finished, and neither are we. Music.