If you know me, you know that I love Oprah. I know that in Christian circles that can be controversial but God has used her, a number of times, to speak to my heart. She tells a story about surrender that I think of often and has been on my mind a lot lately.
She was captivated with the book, The Color Purple. She carried a copy everywhere she went and gave it as a gift whenever she could. When she found out they were to make a movie of the book she wanted to be a part of it so badly she was willing to serve water to the actors just to be allowed on the set. But she was given the opportunity to do much more than that; she was allowed to audition for the role of Harpo. She knew she was meant to play this role. There were so many signs and she mentions all of them as she tells the story. But when she hadn’t heard any news on her audition she called to find out for herself and was told that she was not the only person auditioning. In fact, there were real actors hoping for the part, and then they listed names.
She was crushed and knew that she had lost the part. In a pit of depression she drove to a fat farm and while on the treadmill she cried and cried. She had never wanted anything so badly and she never wanted to want anything that badly again. She had believed she was meant to play that role, but God must have another plan, so she let her plans die right there on the treadmill. She wept as she sang out loud, “I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Jesus I surrender, I surrender all.” As she sang she received a phone call, it was Steven Spielberg offering her the part and telling her to get out of the fat farm so she wouldn’t loose it.
I don’t have any illusions that when I surrender things will magically turn my way, but there is such a freedom in letting go and surrendering our plans to our God, in whom we can trust. There is a peace and calm that is indescribable. In a place of surrender I don’t feel the need to fight for my rights or make things happen- I can simply be. And in that stillness I find I have all that I need and enough hope, peace and joy to even share with others.
This entry was posted on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 10:49 am and is filed under Reyes Family Blog (T.E.A.R.S. for Joy), General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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