I have been wrestling with that word and what it has meant in my life for about a year now. Some days I can rest in God’s plan. Some days I am completely aggravated that my plans don’t work out. Other days I pretend like everything is going my way just to give myself a false sense of happiness. I hope that doesn’t make me sound crazy.
I’m just being honest.
A couple of weeks ago, in our small group, we had a discussion about surrender. We talked about how our first thought when hearing that word was “waving the white flag.” We think of those movie scenes where someone or some group of people has lost to their opponent and they lose everything.
When we talk of surrendering to Jesus, we have to completely retrain our brains from thinking of losing everything to gaining everything. We have to ask ourselves, “What are we fighting so hard to hang on to?” In those movie scenes, what are people fighting for? Power. Money. Land. Rights. All of those are justifiable things to fight for. There’s honestly nothing wrong with having some fight in you. Motivation is a good thing. Determination is an even better thing. However, when your end goal is not God’s end goal, the fight to attain that thing may just wear you out and leave you empty. Want to know something else? Every piece of land, every person, every dollar, every right and reason in this world, belongs to God.
Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
An even heavier truth? Blessings come from God. Many of us have heard that statement. But do we really understand what it means for God to bless us? He will honor hard work with material rewards. So yes, we work for what we have, but ultimately God was the provider of that job, that family, and that breakthrough.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows
I have wrestled with surrender pretty strongly since committing to the race. Everything about this trip is counter-cultural. It definitely isn’t “what everyone else is doing.” Surrendering to a call on your life should be easy, but for me it hasn’t been. I’ve had to surrender friendships, relationships, jobs, finances, shopping, time, my pride. You name it, I’ve had to let God have it. Stalling didn’t help either.
What I’ve realized? God. Is. Good. He has good things in store for His kids. I’m not losing anything when I surrender. I am gaining fresh perspective, rest, new opportunities, wisdom, and above all, a peace that passes all understanding. As long as my heart pursues God’s heart, He will provide wonderful new desires and the means to fulfill them. He will bless me to be a blessing.
Luke 12:31 TLB He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
