Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
9 7 2026
21 Seconds to Change — Part Two
What Are You Holding Onto?
What if it only took 21 seconds to change the direction of your life? Not 21 days. Not 21 months. Not years of trying to figure it all out. Just 21 seconds to stop long enough to pray the Lord’s Prayer… to hear what God is saying. (See Part 1)
Sometimes God doesn’t need more time from us.
He wants our attention.
Last time we talked about the Shepherd who knows where to find us. Even when we are lost, bleeding, scared, alone, displaced and hiding, He knows exactly where we are. He comes looking for us. He finds us. He reaches down to touch us. But what happens when He finds us? What happens when the Shepherd puts His hand on the very place we’ve been trying to hide?
Maybe that is where the real change begins.
There are things in our lives we have prayed about, cried about, complained about and asked God to remove. But sometimes the answer isn’t that He removes it. Sometimes, in His time, He asks us to surrender it. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24) Deny yourself. Those are hard words. Because we want Jesus to change our circumstances, but sometimes Jesus wants to change us in the circumstances.
We want Him to open the prison door, but sometimes He is using the prison to show us what has been holding us captive. We want freedom, but freedom may require letting go of something we’ve become comfortable carrying. An attitude. A habit. An addiction. Pride. Anger. Unforgiveness. Shame. Bitterness. A relationship. A secret. Something we know isn’t God’s best, but we’ve learned how to live with it.
And perhaps the Shepherd has come looking for that very thing. Not to condemn us. To free us.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Transformed. Not patched up. Not covered over. Not made to look better on the outside. Changed.
And maybe that change can begin in 21 seconds. Twenty-one seconds to stop. Twenty-one seconds to become quiet. Twenty-one seconds to ask, “Lord, what are You trying to show me?” And then comes the hard part. Listen.
Because God may put His finger on something we don’t want Him touching. Have you ever gone to a doctor and he needed to touch an inflamed area and the pain was excruciating…but necessary. That’s where we have a choice. We can explain it away. We can blame somebody else. We can tell God why it’s not really our fault and try to escape the pain or the consequences of it. Or we can simply say, “Yes, Lord.”
That little phrase can change everything. Abraham said yes. Moses said yes. Peter said yes. Paul said yes. And countless people throughout Scripture discovered that obedience to God often began with one simple decision. Yes.
James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Listen… Then do it!
Maybe your 21 seconds aren’t about changing your entire life today. Maybe they’re about changing the next decision. The next conversation. The next thought. The next temptation. The next opportunity to forgive. The next chance to tell the truth. The next moment when you can choose God’s way instead of your way.
Twenty-one seconds can be long enough to stop before you say something you can’t take back. Long enough to close the computer. Long enough to put the phone down. Long enough to walk away. Long enough to forgive. Long enough to pray. Long enough to say, “Jesus, I surrender this to You.”
And here’s the thing about surrender. It doesn’t always feel like victory. Sometimes surrender feels like dying. But remember what Jesus said about the seed. “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24)
Something has to die for something new to live. Maybe that’s what the Shepherd is showing you. Maybe He’s not trying to take something good away from you. Maybe He’s trying to remove something that has been keeping you from becoming who He created you to be.
So today, take 21 seconds to pray the Lord’s Prayer. Don’t rush past them. Get quiet. Ask Him one question:
“Lord, what is the one thing You want me to surrender?” Then listen.
And when He shows you… don’t negotiate. Don’t hide. Don’t run.
Just say, “Yes, Lord.”
Because sometimes 21 seconds isn’t enough to change everything. But it may be enough to change you. And when you change, your next step changes. And when your next step changes, your direction changes.
And when your direction changes… your life can change.
Maybe your 21 seconds starts right now.
Thank you for spending these few minutes with me today. My prayer is that these devotionals don’t simply give you something to think about, but draw you into a deeper love for Jesus Christ and community.
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If you’d like to go even deeper, I’d love to invite you to join me on Tuesday, (Tomorrow) September 8th, for my free six-week online course, Discovering Jesus. We’ll meet every Tuesday evenings from 7:00–8:30 p.m. as we explore the foundational truths of our faith and, more importantly, deepen our relationship with Christ. You’re welcome to invite your spouse, family members, friends, or neighbors. I’ll provide all of the materials at no charge. Just let me know. . To join the video meeting, click this link: https://meet.google.com/zkb-dxcq-iau Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus…because He truly is the Treasure.
Leanna Crawford Can I be Honest Prayer,
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