Quote from the book, "The Grace of Yielding."

No man taketh [my life] from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
(John 10:18)

In this sense, no one will take your life from you. If you don’t lay it down voluntarily, you’ll still be in control of it.

Your cross, dear brother, is not your wife—unless you have power to lay her down and take her up day by day. Nor, dear lady, is it your husband. Nor is it the sickness you did not choose and cannot be healed of. Your cross is the place where you can make the decision not to please yourself.

I could tell you how, time after time in my own experience, when I’ve had that inner struggle and have made the right decision, blessing has followed. Then—and not until then—I have been able to minister. I cannot minister as long as I am pleasing myself. The old ego in me has nothing to give to anybody. It has to be dealt with before the ministry of God can flow out of my life. And Jesus reminds us, “You need to do it every day.” (See Luke 9:23.)

Many, many times in the day, we come to situations where God’s will and our wills cross. We have to see those crossings as God-given opportunity—not disasters, but opportunities. I can assure you that, because I am writing this book, I will be given plenty of opportunity to practice it in the days to come. Both God and the Devil will see to that. As a matter of fact, I even thought twice before beginning to write, because I know full well that I’ll be tested on what I teach.

Credit: Derek Prince.