Learning to Lose: Wrestling with God | Mornings with Mico

Good people, what's going on man? Top of the morning to you. Sitting out here man at this ranch in Texas, visiting God behind bars and just really in this posture of gratitude. I'm just so taken aback at how blessed I feel to get to do the thing that God's called me to do as I'm moving to this prison ministry space deeper and deeper, further and further. And just having a moment of just reflection man where I think that I'm having a moment where like I'm thinking of myself maybe five, six, seven years ago and how if I was to give myself advice, that version of myself advice from now, not like that I've arrived or like okay I've made it I'm living you know this idea you know this dream that I've had like that's not the case. I think it's just this like just growing and surrender that allows you to be more fulfilled in God's purpose more than finding fulfillment and just fleshly desires and the things that you know you feel would bring you fulfillment. And just kind of sitting in that space, that mind space, that heart space and I guess to answer the question that I initially stated like what advice would I give myself four or five, six years ago and it is truly like this idea of dying to self-surrender and allowing God's perspective, praying for God's perspective to ultimately be the perspective that informs you of what's good, what's true, what purpose is, to not lean on your own understanding, to not allow yourself to get on wrapped up into your own ideas and perspectives and dreams and ambitions but to truly pray and pursue God to be Lord over your perspective, Lord over your view of things. It's smoke flowing, that's why I'm over here choking up a little bit but smoke from the fire pit. But I think that is probably something that and that's and that's something that I'm still growing, something that I'm still I would still say is a piece of this walk that is just so important y'all to really like pursue this posture of surrender, to pursue this release and to allow God to truly Lord over your emotions, Lord over your thoughts, Lord over your perspective, Lord over your beliefs. Doing so will just save you so much frustration along the way because I think that some of my biggest wrestling now in my walk and I wouldn't say now but throughout my walk over the past few years has really just been getting on board with God's plan for my life. I won't even say that it was me wrestling with sin or wrestling with the enemy, it's just really like wrestling with God as far as just getting on board with His plan for my life. And I think that you see that same wrestle in different seasons of your life, whether it's wrestling with Him against His will, wrestling with Him you know for just certain characteristics and attributes that He's trying to like free you from. And now and I find myself wrestling with God

truly hoping to lose, like I hope I lose every match with God, like I hope that He wins, I want Him to win every match for me to just become more and more like Him and get on board with what it is that He wants to do with me and wants to do in me and wants to do through me. Because the thing is there's always going to be other people attached to what it is He wants to do through you, what He wants to do in you. It's not simply just about you and as you continue to grow in that surrender and you start seeing the fruit of your obedience showing up in other people's lives, it helps you to grow in this posture of selflessness and gratitude when I can see in my son, in my nephews, when I can see in young men that I get to mentor, when I can see in other brothers in Christ and I can see, and this is in all humility right, this is not me boasting or bragging on myself, this is in all humility, this is what God has allowed me to be a part of. But I can see you know their growth and their walk with Christ growing because of the relationship that we've got to have because of the relationship that I've stewarded um with them right like this is it's all God's plan it is no glory to me it is not bigging up me it is me seeing like wow God I was focused on moving in this direction but you wanted me to camp out here or you wanted me to die to that so that I can be here and I can be obedient here and now you're allowing me to see why you're allowing me to see in different brothers and and and like I said my son my nephews are the men that I've gotten to walk alongside you're allowing me to see what that fruit actually looks like and it can do something to you where um well for me anyways where it it grows you in that gratitude like how selfish would I be to see this fruit in others and still say yeah this is cool but I would rather have this or I would rather have that right like that right there whatever ounce of that that's in you like that's not even something to run from or to die you know or to uh to deflect but let that be an indicator like wow God like here it is you're allowing me to see this right here and I'm still struggling with this desire over there like Lord this desire probably has a hold a harder grip on my heart than I and that I thought that I would that I would have felt right and allowing that to inform your prayers and to shape your prayers like God you know what I truly need to die to this thing that much more I truly need to grow in this surrender piece that much more because here it is I'm seeing the fruit of what my surrender has looked like and what my obedience has looked like and yet I'm still struggling with this idea of um what would be more pleasing to me and I go off that's not just simply a tangent but that's also even as I'm growing in the surrender and I'm recognizing that

I want to lose every wrestling match with God I'm also aware that that's that that there's some of that still in my heart as well and um and and and allowing that more and more to shape my prayer like I don't know what that looks like for you I don't know if that's something that you struggle with I don't know if that's something that you're finding maybe you're not even aware of maybe you are struggling with it but you're just not aware of it but don't if that is the case like don't don't don't don't deflect it don't pretend like it's not there if you don't recognize it there then I still encourage you search ask God search me okay I don't I don't identify with that but is there any is that do I have a version of that hidden in my heart somewhere in the crevices of my heart somewhere that I may not be fully aware of because ultimately man the more we grow in the surrender and the more that we grow and being more like Christ the more we truly are going to be fulfilling or fulfilled and the more we're going to be fulfilling his purpose and ultimately to live is Christ and to die is gain so as long as we're here that's what we're called to do we're called to be a reflection of Christ to the to other non-believers and other believers we're called to be this unique expression of Christ in the spaces that he's entrusted us to we're called to be more like him we're called to be with him while we're on this side of heaven man so just thought I'd leave that with y'all man because that's something that I've been chewing on all day and I hope it blesses you