Still Surrendered. Still A Work - What the World Didn’t Count, God Did.

Scripture:
”For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
— James 2:26 (NKJV)

Devotional:
There is no formula that can explain favor.
There is no checklist that can calculate how God chooses to cover someone, especially when their faith is the only thing holding them together.

Sometimes, people comments are shaped by their own lens. They will try to reduce God’s favor and His Grace down to logic. They’ll say things like, “Faith Without Works Is Dead,” as if your “works” were missing. And yes, faith without works is dead, but here’s the part people overlook:

“Works” doesn’t always look like hours of studying. “Works” doesn’t always look like being fully prepared. “Works” doesn’t even always look like putting your best foot forward. But sometimes “Works” looks like showing up when you feel like quitting. Sometimes “Works” looks like pressing submit when your confidence is gone. Sometimes “Works” looks like staying in the fight when everything in you says walk away. Sometimes “Works” looks like breaking down. And sometimes “Works” looks like giving up completely out of frustration, and not because you lost faith in God, but because you were too frustrated, too tired, too human to keep forcing what you didn’t understand.

But EVEN IN THESE MOMENTS when you cried, when you paused, when you laid it all down…GOD NEVER STOPPED WORKING!!! You didn’t need to be perfect. You just needed to stay surrendered. And Guess What, SURRENDER IS A WORK TOO! It’s all STILL A WORK!

And God saw ALL OF IT! He saw the tears, the exhaustion, the nights you didn’t sleep, and the days you moved forward with nothing but trust AND FAITH!

You didn’t glide through life untouched. You’ve failed before. You’ve cried, doubted, and even fallen short. You’ve battled things no one even knows about. But Through It All, Because of YOUR FAITH, God CARRIED YOU! And when others can’t understand how you made it, they’ll try to attach it to effort. They’ll try to explain it away by how strong you must’ve been, how hard you must’ve worked, how prepared you must’ve been, or how lucky you must’ve gotten. But KEEP DECLARING THE WORKS OF THE LORD BECAUSE OF YOUR FAITH!

Faith doesn’t follow logic, and neither does His GRACE that follows because of it. Favor will always confuse people who think it has to be earned. But YOU KNOW BETTER! You know you were nowhere near perfect or did everything right. You just needed to stay surrendered.

Your frustration didn’t cancel your faith. So even in your moments of total weakness, the Word of God said therefore there is now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. Your Works don’t have an expiration date. You’re still surrendered because you didn’t give in to your own ability. You kept your faith. You kept your faith. That’s STILL A WORK. You cared enough to try. And God sees that your heart is still “LEANING” towards Him. THAT’S STILL A WORK!

Your Faith, God’s Grace, and the Outcome of it all doesn’t follow logic. And you don’t have to provide an explanation for that.

So let them wonder how you made it. Let them assume it was luck or strategy or strength. You don’t owe them an explanation, you owe GOD YOUR PRAISE! Because it wasn’t just grit that got you here. It was grace.

You didn’t earn this.
You didn’t finesse this.
You were carried, and that still counts as faith!

So stand tall in your testimony.
Smile when they don’t get it.
And keep moving forward, not because of your perfection, but because of God’s promise to finish what He started in you.

And the next time your mind tries to spiral based on what people say, or how they feel, just whisper back: I’M STILL SURRENDERED. AND THAT IS STILL A WORK!

Reflection/Challenge:
When was the last time you dismissed your own progress because it didn’t “look” strong enough?
Have you overlooked the fact that staying in the fight — even when frustrated, tired, or confused — was still an act of faith?

Today, give yourself credit for the work no one saw but God did.
Write down 3 moments where you kept going, even when you felt like giving up.
Declare over yourself: “That was still a work. And God saw it.”

Prayer:
Father God in the name of Jesus. Lord, I just first want to say THANK YOU! Thank you for another day. Thank you for your goodness that you have shown me all on all days. I truly love you with every fiber of my being. I first just want to ask you for forgiveness of all of my sins and shortcomings, and I receive your forgiveness in my heart. I repent of my sins and receive your forgiveness in my heart. Lord, today, help me to be reminded that although the world doesn’t see my efforts as a work, in your eyes, it was a work. And because my Faith was in alignment with my work, Your Grace Met me in that place and worked it out in my favor. I truly Thank YOU for seeing that work that no on else could and using it to bless me richly. Thank you for counting my surrender, my weakness, my small yes’s as works that produced my faith. Forgive me for the moments I’ve tried to measure grace with logic, and forgive others who have done the same thing. Help me rest in the truth that You’ve never required perfection, nor a logical setting, but only a surrendered heart. Remind me that in my lowest moments, that I am still Yours, still seen, still kept, and still covered. And when others try to explain away what You did for me, let my only response be praise.

Lord, Thank You that you’re blessing others as well by this word. You’re changing hearts to believe. You’re touching minds to understand that Your way is the only right way, and that Your will is the best. Please keep speaking, and pouring into me. Please keep instructing, correcting, and steadying me. I love You Jesus! I thank you God for Jesus! I thank You God for your Grace! I Thank You God for your undeniable power and love. In this I pray in Jesus most precious name I pray, Thank God and Amen!!!