We all have dreams, goals, and desires that we want to take hold in our lives, but how do we attain them all? We have one life and each minute only goes by once, so how do we make the most of this life? How can we get more in life?

As of any typical ambitious person, I have big dreams – dreams to have my own Christian clothing line, to be an author of many books, and a speaker who shares the good news of God to the world. But deep inside my little courageous heart, I asked myself, “Could all these things really come into reality?“

I knew that God had many promises in the bible of giving us a good future, and it even says in John 10:10 that Jesus came to give us life, and life to the full, but I asked God how could I have life to the fullest? It seemed impossible for me to be who I wanted to be at the rate I was living in now.

The verse just seemed too good to be true. Was it really possible for me to have a life to the fullest? To have every dream come true and gain the best that God had planned for me? But in the midst of my doubts, God showed me that it shouldn’t be me questioning God if his promises were true, and instead God questioned me and asked, “will you surrender everything?“

Here I was, asking God to give me more in life, yet his response was for me to give him more. It didn’t make sense, and I was already at a point in my life where I had already given up my plans to do masters and continue my music school.

Did I really hear God ask me to surrender again?

But it was in this moment when God revealed to me that there was still one thing I hadn’t surrendered to him, and that was my time. I still chose to do my free time the way I wanted to spend it, and not the way God wanted me to spend it. It may seem weird to think that to experience life to the fullest means to give up our fullest to God, but here’s the truth on how to get more in life:

Let go to get more.

The more you let go, the more God will give you more. If you are still holding on to the things you want, then you will not have enough room to have the things that God wants to give you. And it is only God, who can give you life to the fullest.

For me to accomplish my big dreams, I had to let go of things that were not rooted in God’s desire. God slowly revealed to me that I was spending too much time with my boyfriend. And if I didn’t surrender my time to God, there was no way I could finish writing my first book that I had planned on, and accomplishing the other goals I had for myself.

I used to think that letting go meant I was getting less for myself, but I have found that when I let go, I actually get more from God. Because I letted go of my plans to do masters and to continue my music studio, I know have more opportunity and time to spend on developing myself towards becoming a servant of God, and writing books. And I believe that in his time, the more I let go the more God will give more.

When God calls us, he will always require us to let go of something. As Oswald Chambers says it, “we must be willing to let go before we can grasp something else.” Everyone who was used by God in the bible had to let go of something before they could accomplish God’s calling for them.

Abraham had to let go of his comfort zone and leave his home town before he could receive the promise land and God’s blessings, Moses who had to let go of his majestic life in Egypt before he could save the Israelites, Paul had to let go of his old life before he could be used by God, and Joseph had to let go of his brothers and family before he could be lifted up in Egypt.

All of those who were used by God had to let go of something before they could experience God’s full blessing upon their lives. They had to let go to get more of what God had in stored for them. And just like them, God needs us to let go before we can get more from God.

God revealed to me that it is possible for me to see every dream come true and receive the best from him. It wasn’t God who I needed to question, but myself. I had to ask myself, was I willing to let go and surrender everything to God?

Psalms 37:4 says, “Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Delight means to please, so we must please God by giving ourselves up as living sacrifices, and in return he will give us the desires of our heart.

God knows your every desire, and he wants to give them all to you, but you must free up your hands to be able to receive them from God. Are you wiling to let go and surrender everything to God? So remember, let go to get more.