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Lady_Love
Guest
How many of you have surrendered to God your own intense desires in order to follow His will? What did you surrender? and where did God take you or do with you? What did it feel like to do this?
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AlanFromWichita
Guest
Freedom!
Free from bondage I didn’t even know I had until it let go, and I wanted to do the King David dance. :dancing:
Not only that, there’s always more you can do … so you get to keep feeling freedom all over again each time you make progress. :egyptian:
Trust that the Holy Spirit has everything under control. Now plan ahead like you normally would, but expect literally nothing. If something goes wrong, laugh at it now – why wait until “Someday I’ll look back at this and laugh.”
So basically, you do what you normally do but when you are thrown decisions you didn’t know you’d have to make, then decide on the spot and trust you will not do something dumb. And if you do, give thanks for that as well, because each time we fail we learn something. We learn to walk by falling on our backsides, so we consider falling part of the process of releasing us from the floor so we can walk.
If you have a hard time of it, listen to comedy of your choosing. Think about situations that you might run into that you fear, and maybe even find some comedy that deals with that. My spiritual director and my psychiatrist agree that laughter is therapeutic mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Sorry I’m getting so detailed, but essentially what you do is you learn to accept a curve ball without a fuss. Sometimes you won’t be ready and sometimes things go wrong, but if you are only happen when things are always going right, then you are in bondage and your happiness and serenity is tied to temporary good conditions and circumstances, which can dry up and time – rather than tied to the promise of Christ to give us true unconditional and eternal peace.
All of that is step one. Trying to disconnect your emotions from being controlled by your circumstances. Once you do that, you are in a position to accept anything the world gives you with a happy attitude – and be grateful for everything – then you are free to learn to feel the gentle nudgings of the spirit, without your heartstrings getting tugged by Everything Wrong In Your Life.
There are lots of ways to do this. These are just some ideas like what have helped me open myself up to receive healing. Really, I think the main thing is to get your ego out of the way, which in a practical sense is coincident with surrendering your will.
Alan
Free from bondage I didn’t even know I had until it let go, and I wanted to do the King David dance. :dancing:
Not only that, there’s always more you can do … so you get to keep feeling freedom all over again each time you make progress. :egyptian:
Trust that the Holy Spirit has everything under control. Now plan ahead like you normally would, but expect literally nothing. If something goes wrong, laugh at it now – why wait until “Someday I’ll look back at this and laugh.”
So basically, you do what you normally do but when you are thrown decisions you didn’t know you’d have to make, then decide on the spot and trust you will not do something dumb. And if you do, give thanks for that as well, because each time we fail we learn something. We learn to walk by falling on our backsides, so we consider falling part of the process of releasing us from the floor so we can walk.
If you have a hard time of it, listen to comedy of your choosing. Think about situations that you might run into that you fear, and maybe even find some comedy that deals with that. My spiritual director and my psychiatrist agree that laughter is therapeutic mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Sorry I’m getting so detailed, but essentially what you do is you learn to accept a curve ball without a fuss. Sometimes you won’t be ready and sometimes things go wrong, but if you are only happen when things are always going right, then you are in bondage and your happiness and serenity is tied to temporary good conditions and circumstances, which can dry up and time – rather than tied to the promise of Christ to give us true unconditional and eternal peace.
All of that is step one. Trying to disconnect your emotions from being controlled by your circumstances. Once you do that, you are in a position to accept anything the world gives you with a happy attitude – and be grateful for everything – then you are free to learn to feel the gentle nudgings of the spirit, without your heartstrings getting tugged by Everything Wrong In Your Life.
There are lots of ways to do this. These are just some ideas like what have helped me open myself up to receive healing. Really, I think the main thing is to get your ego out of the way, which in a practical sense is coincident with surrendering your will.
Alan
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ACanthony
Guest
Great question!!!
I think surrendering desires is a daily battle, a “Your will” vs. my small and petty will. Each day provides us opportunities to do God’s will and like Alan says, we have to let our egos get out of the way.
I have sacrificed many desires, some physical in nature and some spiritual. Physically, I have to surrender my desires to, for lack of better words, indulge my testosterone. It is tough being a single (non married) male in your 20’s, especially in this culture. Like lots of Catholic males, I suffered from a dark pornography addiction in my college years. It took a lot to surrender those desires. There is the desire to fight against wordly things i.e. to not watch some shows that may be entertaining and funny, but are not good for the soul. The desire against fun and entertainment when you know you should be doing other things with your time. There is the battle to sacrifice the desire for time i.e. I would like to do such and such in the morning but I know I should be saying my prayers.
There are other desires that I have sacrificed too. I’m sure I could have more money in my bank account, I could have more friends. I could not be frustrated sexually. Again, this is a gradual thing and a daily battle, as I am no saint. What does all this sacrifice get me? Freedom. Freedom from sin. Joy in my heart no matter if there’s good circumstances or bad. A hope that I know where I am going after I die. A purpose in that I know I commanded to be the light of the world and spread God’s message throughout. God is so awesome because when we fail at sacrificing our desires, if we fail at doing His will and when we get frustrated where our will takes us, there is always tomorrow. We can go to Confession, receive the Communion, and try, try again.
I think surrendering desires is a daily battle, a “Your will” vs. my small and petty will. Each day provides us opportunities to do God’s will and like Alan says, we have to let our egos get out of the way.
I have sacrificed many desires, some physical in nature and some spiritual. Physically, I have to surrender my desires to, for lack of better words, indulge my testosterone. It is tough being a single (non married) male in your 20’s, especially in this culture. Like lots of Catholic males, I suffered from a dark pornography addiction in my college years. It took a lot to surrender those desires. There is the desire to fight against wordly things i.e. to not watch some shows that may be entertaining and funny, but are not good for the soul. The desire against fun and entertainment when you know you should be doing other things with your time. There is the battle to sacrifice the desire for time i.e. I would like to do such and such in the morning but I know I should be saying my prayers.
There are other desires that I have sacrificed too. I’m sure I could have more money in my bank account, I could have more friends. I could not be frustrated sexually. Again, this is a gradual thing and a daily battle, as I am no saint. What does all this sacrifice get me? Freedom. Freedom from sin. Joy in my heart no matter if there’s good circumstances or bad. A hope that I know where I am going after I die. A purpose in that I know I commanded to be the light of the world and spread God’s message throughout. God is so awesome because when we fail at sacrificing our desires, if we fail at doing His will and when we get frustrated where our will takes us, there is always tomorrow. We can go to Confession, receive the Communion, and try, try again.
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