Hand It Over To Him

…We who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence (Philippians 3:3-4, NIV).

When the pandemic hit back in March, I, like many others, decided to take advantage of doing a little cleaning up of things around my house that I didn’t use anymore. Most of what I came across still had value and could be of use to someone, but was ultimately just taking up space in my home. With everything closed and most everyone limiting their trips to public places, I decided to list what I had on Facebook Marketplace. It would be an opportunity for me to get rid of things, make a little money, and, hopefully, help someone else in need of finding a particular item. Win-win-win.

After feeling a nudge from the Lord, I decided to take whatever money I made from the sales and put it aside into a separate account. Since beginning this venture with The Narrow Path several years ago, I have had many conversations with the Lord about being as obedient as possible to whatever I felt He was leading me toward. It started with building this website and changing my schedule at work to allow for dedicated writing time. There are lots of other dreams the Lord has placed on my heart in regard to The Narrow Path that I am trusting Him for, should that be His will for my journey. Putting the money aside has only been one step in this entire process, but it’s been fun as I’ve felt myself being challenged, in a good way, to step out of my comfort zone, listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit and respond in obedience.

A short time later, I shared with my parents about the benefits of using Facebook Marketplace, and before long, we were hard at work sorting through and cleaning out things from their garage to get rid of as well. I also shared with them how I had felt led to keep the money for an unknown, future purpose for The Narrow Path. Though I didn’t, and still don’t, know what that purpose would be, they were incredibly supportive and even agreed to allow me to keep the profits of what was made from selling their things. I was, and still am, so grateful to them for their support and willingness to jump on board. It’s been so fun seeing God move and work through this process. We’ve been able to get rid of so many items that were taking up space while allowing God to provide things for others they may not have been able to afford or get to otherwise. And one thing is for certain—I wanted to be intentional to give Him all the glory.

Fast forward 7–8 months, and here I am, still selling various items on Marketplace. It’s definitely a process that requires patience and persistence. There have been some items listed for months that finally sell, others that sell within a day or two, and others that are still listed on my commerce profile. More than anything, this process has taught me a lesson in what it looks like to truly hand things over to Him. He made that very clear to me recently when my pride seeped into the process, and I began trying to take control of things myself. I know it may be hard to understand how that fits into this venture of selling things on Facebook, but stay with me as I walk you through the encounter, I had with the Lord a couple of weeks ago.

It was Sunday morning. The weekend had been marked by isolation and crummy weather, limiting opportunities for outside activity. And, as we all know, when we’re stuck at home and attempt to entertain ourselves with television, social media, or any other form of news and information, we’re constantly bombarded by all things COVID-19 related right now. As a result, I was feeling frustrated, exhausted, and in a little bit of a bad mood. As you might imagine, I had spent entirely too much time on my phone over the course of the previous several days, much of which was focused on viewing and editing my marketplace items. In the week or so prior, I had posted new items—some for friends and some of my own. It had been days since I’d had any inquiries, and I was feeling frustrated. In an attempt to take matters into my own hands, it had begun to consume my thoughts. Maybe if I change the item description, that will help. I wonder if I should lower the price on this? I think I’ll delete this item and re-post. I’m sure more people will see it if I do that. Wow. As I type that out, I realize just how quickly I allowed myself to try and take control of something that I had promised the Lord I would hand over to Him. In Philippians 3:3–4, Paul is writing about his own weakness in the flesh when he says: “…we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence.” What a great reminder this is for me and should be for all of us. Though we may have reason to be confident, we are nothing when we boast in ourselves. We are called to be servants of Christ Jesus and boast only in Him.

As I realized that Sunday, my flesh kicked in, and pride had convinced me that the sale of my items on Marketplace rested solely on my shoulders. Though I do have an active role, I was immediately reminded that everything I have is His. Every single item and every single cent is His, not mine. After some quiet time to process the previous few days, a lengthy conversation with the Lord about me trying to take control, and prayer to hand it back over to Him, it felt as though a weight was lifted. I distinctly remember taking a deep breath as I was reminded that it is only through Him and because of Him that I’ve been blessed with this opportunity in the first place. What is it in your life that you’ve tried to pick up that He is asking you to hand over? If you’re like me, maybe it’s something you’ve struggled with laying down and picking up over and over again. This time it was Facebook Marketplace, but I can assure you there have been plenty of other instances where I’ve tried to take control when He is asking me to surrender.

Since my conversation of surrender on that Sunday, I have sold sixteen items on Marketplace. Sixteen! It has been such a great reminder of the faithfulness and goodness of God. I would love to encourage you today to pause and call to mind those areas in your life where your flesh has kicked in, causing your focus to drift away from Jesus. In all things big or small, as the apostle Paul reminds us, we are called to put no confidence in our flesh, to boast only in Christ Jesus, and to give God all the glory. I’ll always say, “Amen!” to that.