Mama, You Are Not "As Is"

As is. That was the label imprinted on my mind and engraved into my heart. I felt like a cheap house-flip with a new coat of paint camouflaging worn down paneling and peel-and-stick tiles covering up old linoleum. 

While I could see in the distance the woman I believed God wanted me to become, actually getting there seemed impossible. I was a good girl in disguise, with hours devoted to going to Bible studies and trying new life-management methods hoping that I’d get a handle on my discontentment in my season of motherhood and get rid of the guilt and shame over my all-too-frequent angry outbursts. 

No matter how hard I tried to improve myself and change my nature, nothing worked.

“As is” felt like a proclamation over my life—one I thought would never change. Maybe that is how you feel too.

Well, I’m far enough along in this journey of transformation to declare boldly to you that God doesn’t make anything that is “as is.” 

God is about the business of taking us from as we are and transforming us into everything He intended.

That transformation process begins as soon as we say YES — yes to His work. Yes to His will. Yes to His way.

Stringing those yeses together leads to whole life transformation.

Yes, God, I give you my heart.

Yes, God, I give you my mind.

Yes, God I give you my body.

Yes, God, I give you my past.

Yes, God, I give you my present.

Yes, God, I give you my future.

Yes, God, I give you my sin.

Yes, God, I give you my shame.

Yes, God, I give you my bitterness.

Yes, God, I give you my hurts.

Yes, God, I give you my time.

Yes, God, I give you my money.

Yes, God, I give you my hopes.

Yes, God, I give you my plans.

Yes, God, I give you my calling.

Yes, God, I give you my marriage.

Yes, God, I give you my children.

Yes, God.

When we give God everything, He gives us more than everything.

Saying “yes” to God isn’t a once and done deal. It’s daily. It’s a moment-by-moment choice to invite Him to take up full residence as the King of our heart and Lord of our life.

So if you’re stuck in the rut of “as is” living, desperately longing to get out but not knowing how, I invite you right now to stop spinning your wheels trying to become the woman you think God wants you to be. Instead, fall to your knees in complete surrender, inviting Him to do the work in you. 

Yes, it will take time. But it will happen. I’m living proof sisters. God took this “as is” woman, wounded from a legacy of abuse, bound up in shame, and fueled by anger, and turned me into a woman who knows she is His beloved, set free to love like Jesus and shine His hope into hearts each day. That’s what He wants for you too.

Because there is more,

Elisa Pulliam

Founder of MoretoBe.com and ItIsWell.us