In a recent podcast interview, pastor and author David Platt shared three lessons he would share with his 20-year-old self, if it were possible. “Three words come to mind: surrender, abide and rest,” the teaching pastor said.
Expanding on the first word, Platt says: “Lay your life before the Lord every day. Deny yourself. Cry out, ‘Lord save me from myself, save me from my dreams, my plans. Make me want to do whatever you want me to do. Help me to want to go wherever you want me to go.'”
“I’ve not regretted any time in the last 20 years—or 40 years, for that matter—that I spent in the Word, praying, fasting and walking in obedience to His commands,” he continues, unpacking what it means when he says “abide.”
Finally, Platt says that confidence that God is leading gives us the freedom to rest.
Platt identifies pride and selfishness as some of his regrets from his earlier years in ministry:
[lborder]I’m the most prideful person I know. I shudder to think where I would be without God saving me from myself time and time and time again. I find myself looking to the future, saying, ‘Lord, please keep saving me from myself. I pray that all I’ve had an opportunity to be a part of in these past years would only be a precursor of what is to come.’
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