What do you think of when you hear the term “rise above”?

What are some things you have risen above or some things you wish you could rise above?

Sometimes, we experience situations or circumstances in our lives that are unpleasant. Things like illness, disease, loss of a job, death of a loved one, a broken relationship, financial hardship, etc. We often think that in order to rise above those things, we have to change our circumstances.

The key to rising above comes in learning how to trust God in the midst of our circumstances. We can all agree that trusting God is always the best thing we can do, but what do we do about those circumstances that are weighing us down? We know that short church-girl answer is to “give it to God”, but what does that look like, really?

Today, we’re going to look at Romans 12:1-2 and see what God says about rising above our circumstances.

Romans 12: 1-2: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Now let’s read those same verses in The Passion Translation.

“Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you,[a] but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.”

Let’s break this down.

Verse 1 says, in view of God’s mercy, or in response to His marvelous mercy, we should offer our bodies as living sacrifices. We should surrender ourselves to God to be holy and pleasing to Him. We should live in holiness, experiencing all that delights His heart. Why? Because this is the most genuine, true, and proper way to worship.

OK, let’s think about that. What does that look like? What does that mean?

God’s Mercy. First of all, we have to recognize that God is gracious and merciful. He gives us more blessings than we deserve, and He withholds punishments that we deserve. It’s because of God’s mercy that we are digging in His Word today to learn how to rise above.

Surrender. Because of that mercy, God’s Word says that we should surrender ourselves. Well, what does that mean? Surrender how? Surrender what? The short answer is- everything! Surrender your anger. Surrender your prejudice. Surrender your checking account. Surrender your children. Surrender your hopes and dreams and plans. Surrender your job. Surrender your health. Surrender your body. We think as Christians that this should be easier for us, but it can be so, so hard. We want control over things. We especially want control over our own lives and our own bodies. When we want chocolate, we want to eat that whole pan of brownies. We don’t want anyone telling us we shouldn’t. But in this verse, God is saying we need to lay it all down. Everything.

Pleasing God. Why should we surrender? Because it pleases God. He wants us to be holy and the only way we can live a holy life is to live a life that is completely surrendered to Him. I’m struggling with a weight issue right now. I lost 25lbs in the fall of 2019. Then in January of 2020, I started taking a medication that made me gain weight. I gained all 25lbs back plus an additional 10. I weigh more right now than I ever have in my life, including the times I was 9 months pregnant. I know God loves me no matter what size or shape I am, but I also know that He wants me to live a surrendered life and up until very recently, I was selfishly holding on to that part of my life for myself. I decided that if I was going to gain weight, I was going to enjoy it and I started eating all the junk food. That’s when God got a hold of my heart. See, we’re HIS GIRLS. He knows I want to please Him. He knows I love and adore Him. And He also knows that I’m never going to be able to rise above anything if I don’t first surrender every part of my life to Him.

Genuine Worship. I love this part. God says that our surrender is our true and genuine expression of worship. Surrendering isn’t a punishment. It isn’t an act of defeat or inability. It’s an act of worship. We love God so much and we want to please Him so badly that we lay it all down before Him. Everything – from what we think to what we wear to what we say to where we go to how we dress to how we act to who we hang out with to how we spend our time.

Be Different. So, what does that look like? Well, for starters, it makes us look different from everyone else. God says, stop imitating the ideals and the opinions of the culture around you. Do you realize how many things we do and say and wear simply because it’s what the people around us do? God says to shrug off those old habits. He says we can be different by allowing the Holy Spirit to completely transform us by changing our minds. When the Holy Spirit changes the way we think about things, it changes our actions. When Holy Spirit changed the way I thought about my body and the way I thought about “my rights” over my body, it changed the way I ate. This has just happened within the last week so let me tell you, day by day, God is changing me for the good.

Discernment. God says when we allow Him to change the way we think, He empowers us to discern God’s will as we live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His eyes. Discernment is what helps us make good choices. And good choices are what helps us rise above our circumstances.

Rising above doesn’t always mean that our circumstances change. Sometimes it just means that we change. But sometimes, once we’ve surrendered ourselves fully to Him, and the Holy Spirit has transformed our minds, and He has empowered us with His discernment, our eyes are opened to physical things that we can do to change our circumstances. For example, when God opened my eyes to my eating issues, He led me to a health coach who is helping me make better decisions for my life, for free!

Sometimes God’s discernment leads to us moving out of a bad situation. Sometimes it leads to us cutting ties with toxic people. Sometimes it leads us to the right job, the right friend, or the right neighborhood.

But sometimes, our circumstances stay the same. Sometimes the broken relationship doesn’t mend, no matter how hard we try. Sometimes the disease doesn’t go away. Sometimes, we just can’t find a job or increase our income. Sometimes, the only thing that can change is us and that’s ok. Why? Because when our minds are transformed by God, our earthly problems don’t seem nearly as big and important. When we know that our lives are pleasing God, and we know that we’ve surrendered every part of ourselves to Him, then we can find that rest that reminds us that God is holding us.

Spend some quiet time with God this week, asking Him what areas of your life you still need to surrender. Tell Him the circumstances and the troubles and the problems that you want to rise above. And let’s wait expectantly to see what He does as we work through these six points of becoming a living sacrifice.