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Author Tamera Alexander Shares-Surrender…Easier Said than Done

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My guest today is Author Tamera Alexander who is sharing about what God is teaching her about “I surrender all.” Tamera has also offered a book giveaway for one of the commenters. So look for the question at the end. Here’s Tamera:

“For the past two years, God has really been working within me to cultivate a spirit of surrender, yet I’m still so far from being fully surrendered to Him in any area of life.

I want to be surrendered. I want to want what He wants for me more than I want what I want for myself. And I do…with my head. But so many times, my emotions tell a very different story.  So it’s no surprise that this theme of surrender wove a thread through my latest novel that releases this week. Claire Laurent, the heroine in A Lasting Impression, mirrors some of my personal struggle in her own need to surrender her desires.

I love Jeremiah 29:11-13, a much-quoted and familiar promise:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”

Sounds great, doesn’t it? God’s plans are for good, not harm. Giving us a future and hope. This is all great stuff! But…

Are you familiar with verse 10 of that same chapter, and verse 14? The two verses that bracket that promise we love to quote? They’re not as frequently quoted, but they should be:

Let’s read that passage again, beginning with verse 10 and reading through verse 14:

“This is what the Lord says, “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you, says the Lord. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your land.”

Wait a minute! Captivity? He’s promising captivity? AKA: struggle, hardship, things we wouldn’t choose for ourselves? May I please skip that part of the promise? But therein lies the rub…

In order to become more like Christ, we must accept the full promises of God. And that means following His lead, no matter that it leads us down roads we wouldn’t have chosen for ourselves. Or that it means being held captive by [or enduring for a time] a certain hurt or painful circumstance, because within that pain is a path to greater closeness to God.

And isn’t that the ultimate goal of our earthly journey and God’s will for us here…to grow closer to Him? To become more like Christ.

So take Jeremiah’s promise to heart… God does indeed have a distinct purpose and plan for you and me, and it’s one that He’s plotted with our eternal best in mind.

Continued blessings,

Tamera

CONTACT INFO:

Tamera invites you to visit her at:

Her Web site www.tameraalexander.com

Her blog www.tameraalexander.blogspot.com

Twitter www.twitter.com/tameraalexander

Facebook www.facebook.com/tamera.alexander

BIO:

TAMERA ALEXANDER is a bestselling novelist whose works have been awarded or nominated for numerous honors, including the Christy Award, the RITA Award, and the Carol Award. After seventeen years in Colorado, Tamera and her husband have returned to their native South and live in Tennessee, where they enjoy spending time with their two grown children, and a precocious Silky Terrier named Jack.

Wow, I’m really happy Tamera reminded us of the FULL EYE-OPENING quote of that treasured verse–the part we don’t usually focus on.

Have you ever felt as if you’d been taken “captive” by something? I know I have–many times. I don’t enjoy stressful times where I or my family are caught by a trial or time of testing. I know that the Apostle James wants us to count it all joy, but I’m not there yet.

Could you encourage us with a story that has come full circle where you’ve endured and surrendered and come out on the other side, grateful?

Or you in the midst of one right now? Feel free to share or  just to leave “unspoken request” as a reply. I’ll pray over those this week. God is faithful.–Lyn

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Author Tamera Alexander Shares-Surrender…Easier Said than Done — 12 Comments

  1. Isn’t it amazing how we can read verses but only some of them and then when we read more we see a different meaning or a different side of the chapter (hope this made sense am not to well today)
    I love Tamara’s books and would love to read this one.

  2. reading Patsy’s comment i was reminded of a song

    Thankyou for the Valley i walked through today
    The deeper the valley, the more i learned to pray
    Thank you for every hill i climbed
    For everytime the sun didn’t shine.
    Thankyou for every lonely night
    i prayed till i knew everything was all right

  4. Oh my goodness Lyn, yes we do all have trails – everyday even. One of the trails I’ve been through happened in 2003. I had melamona just under my left eye. (Two spots really). I was sent to a plastic surgeron and she took off an area under my eye and did a skin graft with skin from my neck. However, three years later in 2006 it came back in the very same spot. I went through so much the first time this happended that I just cried when the doctor said it was positive again. I went to a different plastic surgeron and he did what is known as a flap. (Won’t go into details but I had about 200 stiches on my face). Couldn’t wear makeup for the longest and some folks thought I had been in a wreck. However, God saw me through every bit of this. I love the song “Even In The Valley God Is Good”. Yes He is! I am now melamona free and the doctor said my eyes are very healthy. (I didn’t know that you can get melamona of the eye). So I’m very blessed that I saw the need to go the doctor in the first place. I do have a very long scar on my face because of the operation but I can live with that.

    I love Tamera’s writings. She is a very talented writer. Would enjoy reading her book.

    plhouston(at)bellsouth(dot)net

  5. It’s so hard to go through suffering. We know good will come from it in the end, but when you’re in the middle, that’s hard to swallow. My struggle, like so many others in this economy, is finding a job. I’m at a disadvantage because I have a disability. No one will hire a disabled person when there are so many ablebodied available, too. But I keep hoping and searching…

    I’d love to read this story. Maybe someday I’ll get to visit Biltmore.
    mylab 1122 (at) gmail (dot) com

  6. Tamara, thanks for sharing that scripture, you are right we do only look at the good part and not that there may be some bad along with it, I have two sisters that are going trough some bad times and I am going to show these verses to them. I love to read your books and would love to be put in the drawing for one.
    Paula O(kyflo130@yahoo.com)

  7. Thanks, gals, for visiting today and for sharing your hearts. I prayed for each of you as I read your notes and am asking God to bless you big time! To renew your hope and strength even––and especially!––in the middle of struggles.

    It’s a lovely day here in Nashville but they say some rain is headed our way. But that’s okay too. We could use the moisture, and I always write better when it’s raining. Go figure. I also write better with a bag of popcorn nearby. (LOL) Off to grab some! Blessings to you!

  8. Would love to add a new author to my book collection. This books sounds good for sure. I admire all of the authors’ gifts of writing, I guess you would call me a “reader.” At least I can read, lol, and these books are such a blessing to me. Juanita W
    whisper97304@yahoo.com

  9. Lyn & Tamera, thank you. This author interview really hit home with me.

    Twelve years ago God brought me face-to-face with an area of captivity I had not wanted to admit existed in my life, but one that had kept me bound for far too many years. He used a heartbreaking experience to help me realize my tendency to depend upon others for my security was keeping me from fully surrendering to Him. But praise God, He ultimately allowed me to use what He was teaching me as material for two Bible studies that are still being used in a ministry for hurting women He led me to start called Hem Touchers. Out of my heartache, others have also been been set free from captivity. That’s something only God could do!

    Tamera, Love your books! I discovered them last year, and read all 7 in a matter of weeks. Then I passed them to my daughter, who also read them in a very short time. Now we’re both looking forward to reading A Lasting Impression!

  10. Just started your book, Tamera. Jer. 29:11 is one of my theme verses for my life. It’s so hard to trust Him for everything isn’t it? Especially when you’re in the middle of it. It’s truly a day by day thing to remind myself that His strength is sufficient for the day.

  11. Thanks, Lyn and Tamara. How often we just remember part of a scripture, the part we want to, and forget that Christian Life is a battle against principalities, etc., but that God will bring us out safe on the other side. And the other side, may be Heaven, but most likely on the other side of a trial. My favorite phrase in the Bible? And it came to pass (i take it to mean that this too shall pass)

  12. I know that I am easily distracted and place too much importance on earthly things. Thank you for dealing with the fact that we will suffer. Some seem to think that if you are having hard times something must be wrong with you spiritually. I am so glad that God’s grace is sufficient and that He is with us in our trials!

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