Embarking on a journey of a life surrendered is a nuanced process. It demands courage, patience, and vulnerability. One thing we know for sure is that the rewards are always worth the sacrifice. Tap in as Brenda guides us in uncovering and embracing her obedience to God’s calling over her life to show us that we too, can live a life surrendered. ___________________________________ Watch the FULL “Surrendered: A Devotional w/ Brenda Palmer” series on the Woman Evolve TV App. REGISTER for WE24: womanevolveconference.com Stay plugged into the Woman Evolve community: www.womanevolve.com www.womanevolve.tv download the app from any mobile device’s app store, first 7 days are FREE! Want to support this ministry? Text WEGIVE to (833) 611-9066 FOLLOW US ON THE SOCIALS: Instagram: Woman Evolve and Sarah Jakes Roberts Twitter: Woman Evolve and SJakesRoberts Facebook: Woman Evolve and Sarah Jakes Roberts”

[Music]

hey guys Happy New Year I am Brenda

Palmer and I am elated to be kicking off

the year with the

delegation we are starting woman evolved

devotionals and I think that at the top

of the year is the perfect time that we

reflect on our lives and how we want to

move forward and what better way to do

that than talk about Sur surrender now

before we kick off with surrender I

definitely want to let you know what

we’re defining that as it’s simple it is

taking the life that Jesus has graced us

with and saying God you can have it back

that means my will my plan my emotions

how I thought life should go I’m saying

actually you gave me this life and I’m

going to trust it back to you I think

before we jump into the conversation I

should probably tell you who I am and

why I am here uh when I think about the

word surrender it probably could be the

underscore of My Life um I feel like so

much of my life has been creating a plan

and then God disrupting the plan um I am

from Chicago born and raised I have

literally lived on all the coast uh of

the country um I grew up in Chicago I

went to undergrad in Mississippi I went

to grad school in New York and now I

currently live in LA so I feel like the

Lord has just tossed me around like a

ping pong ball my parents are pastors

and I grew up actually not wanting to do

anything in Ministry in my entire life

basically revolves around me being in

Ministry it’s kind of like you have a

plan and then God tells you girl I

created you I have a plan we going to

roll with that one um I originally went

to school to be a producer I worked in

entertainment a little while I created

content and majority of I actually moved

to LA understanding that I would be in

Ministry but having no context of what

that would look like I really came here

under the pretense of following my

dreams um you moved to LA that’s usually

what it’s about um but I always felt

this tug and this pull that there would

somewhat be Ministry so even though I

did get a chance to like work on sets

and work in entertainment I still also

held a Bible study in my house like it’s

just kind of always this undertone of

God allowing me to step into things that

I dreamed about about while also

Ministry so I moved to California August

28th 2018 the date is very important

because when I got on that plane I had

just walked through probably the biggest

betrayal of my life and I was broken my

life felt completely shattered with like

all of these pieces that I didn’t know

how they were going to be put together

again but what I did know is that when I

got on that plane God promised me that

he would work all things together for my

good and literally I didn’t even

recognize that I was on a plane on

August 28th which on the calendar looks

like 828 and majority of the times that

I’ve seen God show up in my life it has

been like with the number eight it’s so

weird like I was without a job in

California for eight months um I had my

first interview for a real job like one

that comes with benefits and a check you

know cuz that’s a real job uh on April

28th it was like it was like all of

these ways that I knew that I was

stepping into these things and it was

God’s way of saying remember what I said

and he would just prove that so I used

to always say growing up I wanted to

work on a talk show wasn’t very specific

so I ended up working on a Christian

talk show it was a Christian Women’s

talk show on a particular Network and

while I thought it was about being a

producer it was really God’s way of

showing me what he was going to walk me

into majority of those women that were

on that show that I served are women

that I now consider peers and who I get

to walk along the same path and Ministry

with them and so sometimes we can think

we’re in a thing because it’s the thing

we want want to be in but it’s really

God’s way of unveiling us to us but

sometimes he has to give us context in

order for us to be able to have um a

image of what God wants to walk us into

if I could sum it up how did I get here

child obedience and Faith uh working

together um I really always say that

obedience is a seed for the unimaginable

because when God CA you to take a step

we have no idea where that step is going

to lead us but if I use my faith and app

to the fact that I cannot see where this

is leading me but I can trust in the god

who’s leading me into it then anything

can happen so when I think about um

probably the step of obedience or the

moment of surrender

that felt like the biggest one would

definitely be um last year God called me

to walk away from my job um and it was

actually Ministry but it was a secure

check and benefits remember we talked

about that that’s what a real job is um

and it was really really weird it was

like at the most unexpected time like

the timing of the request actually did

not align with the trajectory my life

was going in um I was serving on a staff

at a church I was in the process of

becoming uh consecrated as a pastor I

was about to move into a new apartment

shorty was about to get a new whip like

I had these plans right um I preached a

sermon January 8th there’s that eight

again and in the sermon I said when I

think about 2023 I want to walk with God

y’all be careful what you say because

the Lord was like oh for real Let’s Do

It um and I remember even like relating

it to how Enoch walked with God until he

was not like he there’s no record of him

dying he just walked with God owned in

heaven like that’s crazy and I literally

say that like that’s when I think about

my year 2023 that’s what I want to do

and God was like all right let’s walk I

preached that sermon January 8th and on

January 10th I gave my 3we

notice now um it feels very very weird

to say that uh I actually can say it

with joy now that I walked away from uh

stability and um it’s really weird

because there is this like um awkward

Nuance of being in something that felt

like a God thing God taking me away from

it into something that felt like nothing

and it was sometimes we battle in the

surrender because the thing that God’s

calling us away from is not a bad thing

but if God is asking you to step away

from it it’s no longer a God thing it’s

just a good thing and we always want to

be in the God thing the good thing is

going to feel stable it’s going to feel

secure it’s going to feel comfortable

but a good thing without God will not be

good for long and so you got to trust

God and whatever he’s calling you into

and so uh I gave my notice February 5th

was the day I was supposed to become a

pastor and it turned out to be the day

that they were releasing me

into whatever God was asking me to do

now the crazy thing is sometimes we can

feel like these moments of surrender are

um abrupt but really it had been

something that God Was preparing me for

in December I started to feel unsettled

and instead of just jumping and saying

oh it’s time to qu my job I started to

seek God in prayer and remove my

aspirations and whatever I wanted to do

in that moment and kind of leave space

for God to show me what he was trying to

say at the top of the year I was given

instructions it was to double down on my

podcast I had started a Ministry in

November of 2022 that I had no idea was

a Ministry I just was out here following

the Lord um and also to work on a book

those are the three instructions well

the actual time I needed to make sure

those things were done in excellence

there’s no way I could work a full-time

job so if I’m going to do the things

that God’s asked me to do I’m going to

have to relinquish something I’m going

to have to surrender something and

basically the Reason God needed to pull

me out of that full-time position was

because I needed to focus on the things

he was asking me to focus on and it

wasn’t abrupt he had already prepared me

he just gave me instruction bit by bit

and each step of obedience revealed that

and so for the entire year I doubled

down on those three things um and

I stepped out I surrendered was not easy

at all I cried I was depressed I was sad

I didn’t I didn’t like how not knowing

where my next uh provision would come

from I did not like how that made me

feel at all and I recognized that I had

a lot of ego I had a lot of Pride I had

a lot of of my identity um locked into

being able to provide and do for myself

and I felt like suren surrender takes us

into Seasons that will strip us of the

things that cannot go into the next

place that God’s trying to move us into

and I for sure know that pride and ego

and horrible identity issues have no

place in the place where God’s trying to

take me and some things I didn’t even

know existed until I was put in this

position that would call those things

out and reveal those things that were

hidden because I was hiding in security

I put my things in storage and I was

back and forth on a plane from Chicago

to La um kind of living by Coastal the

crazy part about it is I never didn’t

have a there was not one time I didn’t

have a place to sleep there was not any

time where I didn’t have food there was

not one time I didn’t have money to

survive child I still was shopping I

still was like it’s crazy like

everything I needed literally God

provided and it would be like the

craziest things like I would have to

travel to Atlanta to host a popup Bible

study and I would have a a friend who’s

like oh I’m out of town you can stay at

my house like or I would be back in LA

and people would be like hey I’m going

here for 3 months you want to like stay

at my house like

literally God would give me an

instruction and he would provide to

ensure that that instruction was carried

out the same thing like I didn’t have

any jobs like no like I don’t have a

consistent paycheck and God would say go

to Atlanta and host a Bible study y’all

that cost money we need a location we

need people to do stuff and literally it

would be like would give an instruction

I would take the step towards it I

remember being on a plane and God saying

you need to have Bible study in Atlanta

I’m like that’s not that’s not in the

budget that’s not in the plan by the

time I got off the plane my dad

literally text me and says hey you got a

check in the mail here like y’all it

would literally be that thing like it’s

so crazy I I could like give you

countless ways that God literally would

give an instruction see if I would trust

him and then he would provide like he

would meet me on the other side of my

obedience is and so I want to encourage

you with that surrender you are not

going to have all of anything you’re not

going to have all of the instructions

you’re not going to know what the

outcome is going to be but if you have a

word from God that is as sure as having

the money in the bank that is as sure as

having a place to lay your head like a

word from God is the most solid and

consistent thing you could ever have in

your life and I’m not just telling you

something I read on the pages of this

book I’m telling you what God has done

for me literally I’ve been hosting popup

studies in LA and it that that’s kind of

expensive when you doing something every

week I remember the first time I did it

they sent me a contract and I’m like

this is really official all right I

literally had the exact amount of money

that that contract needed to be

fulfilled in my account but when I say

that to you how I’mma live for the rest

of like I was like God I got it but we

don’t really have it so I stepped out on

faith I got the cashier check I give

them the money y’all before the Bible

study starts I get a random message on

Instagram from this lady who goes hi I’m

not sure if you remember us you met us

um I we go to Center Point we’ve been my

husband and I have been so impacted by

your Bible study we want to sew a

seed it was the exact amount of money I

had just paid to make sure that we have

Bible study y’all I promise you a step

of obedience and choosing to surrender

to what God wants to do will never have

you out here I promise you that I can

give you I wish I could show you my DMs

on how many times it has happened where

absolute strangers have said hey I feel

like I’m supposed to sew into your

ministry I feel like I’m supposed to

tithe like even that couple sewing that

amount of money is connected to a step

of obedience where I had to leave one to

go and serve at a church of people full

of strangers like I didn’t know them I

remember crying and telling PT I don’t I

don’t want to go but I feel like this is

what God is saying well had I never made

that move I would have never met those

people who would have needed to se a

seed into the season I’m currently in

and so you have to know that

your obedience has fruit Your Surrender

will always produce fruit that you may

not see until just the right time and so

I just want to encourage you with that

there’s something that God’s calling you

into that you’re afraid to do because

you don’t know what it’s going to look

like on the other side I promise you God

will always meet you on the other side

of your surrender so I know that was a

lot to take in um but before we move

forward I want you to take a moment to

reflect on what do you feel like God is

asking you to do I don’t want you to

think about like what you don’t have I

don’t want you to think about what this

is going to cost you the simple question

I’m asking you is what is God asking you

to do and I need you to get that in the

Forefront of your mind when I think

about when I was stepping into my

surrender uh this scripture that I

always use is Romans 8 and14 and it says

the mature sons of God follow the

impulses of the Holy Spirit if you ask

my parents my friends anybody with some

sense they would have told you that my

surrender was impulsive I didn’t

consider all of the things right I

didn’t consider that child your credit

score is going to drop you know in

negative numbers no I’m just kidding you

know what I’m saying like I didn’t

consider all of those things because

nothing mattered more to me than

following God and so as you reflect on

what God is asking you to do I want you

to eliminate all of the factors that

would tell you not to listen and just

focus on what he’s asking you to do and

then focus on the fact that it’s God

asking you to do it it’s not like a

parent or a friend or somebody you don’t

know it’s somebody you have a history

with it’s somebody you know well and so

while you meditate on that I just want

you I don’t want you to make a decision

on whether or not you’re going to do it

just ask yourself what is God asking me

to do and what does that mean for me I’m

excited to continue this conversation

with you in the next session we’re going

to talk about

surrendering our past I ain’t even going

to give you no sneak peek you just got

to pull up on us for the next episode

this has been amazing and I cannot wait

to continue our

conversation