Episode Details

Have you ever made homemade bread with yeast? How much yeast do you put in with the flour and water? Just a tiny amount. How much of a difference does the yeast make? ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

As Jesus was teaching, he knew everyone listening understood this because bread wasn’t something they picked up at the grocery store. It was made every day in their homes. The women especially knew exactly what He meant. They had watched a tiny handful of yeast disappear into a massive bowl of flour, only to come back hours later and find every bit of dough changed.

So Jesus said…

Matthew 13:33, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

How much of the dough was affected by only a little yeast? EVERY PART OF IT. And how many of you have personally experienced the impact of little things over your entire life? Really, that’s all of us. Looking back, we see how little things changed the entire trajectory of our lives.

Sometimes that can feel overwhelming because what if you mess up that one little thing that would make all the difference? Before you get all anxious about the enormity of this – please remember your life is under the divine direction of an all-knowing God, IF you surrender to his ability to guide you exactly where you need to be.

Surrender is the key. Without surrender – you’re a bowl of flour sitting flat wondering why your life isn’t rising up.

I wonder if you can see how in your own life some of your biggest blessings didn’t come from one big decision you made, but a combination of tiny turns left and right with split second perfect timing. Did you do that on your own? Oh no you didn’t girl. God was leaning over the rails of heaven, watching your life with great delight, aligning things you didn’t even know to ask for, and sprinkling in a little yeast to make his good plans for you grow. And as you grew, the angels cheered!

Here’s our problem – when we don’t surrender. When we think we don’t need God because we can make our own plans, force our own way, and direct the timing of it all to fit our liking. We try to make our own yeast, but guess what – YOU CAN’T.

Yeast has to come from a start. And you are not that start. GOD IS!

Here’s what surrender really is. It’s opening your clenched fists and saying, “God, you have permission to work anywhere you want.” IT STARTS THERE!!!!!

Most of us try to first hand God one part of our lives. “God, here’s my marriage, fix this. But, don’t touch my priorities. Don’t touch my habits. God, I just want you over here.” But Jesus says the yeast doesn’t stop at one corner of the dough. It permeates every part.

God loves you too much to leave any part of your life untouched. If you invite him into your marriage, he will be there – but he will also go right for YOUR HEART. All while you just want him to work on your husband’s heart, he first starts with yours.

You’ve been praying for your kids, and before he works on them, he works in YOU! Sometimes I wonder if my family’s 7 year journey to healing took so long because I was delaying the work in my heart first.

Which part of your life have you been asking for God to take over? You know that one very well, don’t you?
Now, let me ask – which part of your life have you been holding back from God? Yeah – that one. That one that you’ve been trying to hide or excuse or separate – God says, “I WANT TO GET ALL UP IN THAT TOO!!!!!”

If you surrender your life to Him, He will begin working in places you didn’t even invite Him. But my sister, you can trust him. Remember, he is for you, not against you. His plans for you are to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

In this parable, notice what Jesus doesn’t say – He doesn’t say, “The Kingdom of God is like bread.