Surrender to God and be empowered!

So I told the Lord yesterday that I surrender my life to Him.

I have done this before.  I don't recall the earth shaking, or any lightning bolts or fireworks when I surrendered before.  I don't remember anything changing outwardly much at all.  

We are to live in daily surrender to the Lord.  This means giving up our will, plans, agendas for His.

If we truly believe, "Your will be done," then how does this play out in daily life for us?

Are you strong-willed?  This seems to be an admirable trait according to some.  People are wowed by the most idiotic things, aren't they?  

Jesus is not wowed one iota by your strong will  

Jesus not once exerted His own will when He walked this earth.  Do you respect Jesus for that?  Do you?

Why exactly was Jesus so powerful in His earthly ministry?  Precisely because He was surrendered to His Heavenly Father.  

Jesus had no agenda of His own.  Jesus was perfectly obedient to God and His ministry was the most powerful ever.  Power and authority exuded from Him, and the religious leaders hated Him for it.

That is one of the many paradoxes of living the authentic Christian life.  When we surrender (a seeming act of weakness), we are infused with the almighty power of God.  

God has a chance.  He can finally do His will and work in and through us when we surrender to Him.

Giving up control is not easy for anyone.  But for the "strong-willed," it is darn near impossible.

Oh but the rewards on the other side of surrender are beyond measure.  But you have to wait for it.

God works out His will in real time.  No snapping of His fingers.  No "instant" results.  No "overnight" success.

Jesus lived as a human being for 33 years, fully God and fully man.  Jesus was homeless.  Jesus had no money.  Jesus was rejected by His own.  

Much of what we count "worthwhile" in life, Jesus did not possess.  

I remember saying how Jesus was homeless in a Bible study I belonged to years ago.  One of the women became outraged.  Poor soul.  She was following religion, her "idea" of Jesus, but apparently not the real Jesus.  

Why would this outrage a supposed follower of Christ?  She had a prejudiced idea of what a homeless person was, I guess.  It's all evil pride, really.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.  Always.

Where will God lead us if we surrender?  We cannot possibly know the answer to that.

Do we really trust God?  Or do we only quote Proverbs 3:5-6 if things go as we like?

How much can we possibly understand compared to God's omniscience?  It seems to me like not giving up control is the lesser decision.  

What or who do we think we are controlling anyway?  

We are called to self-control.  That's about it.  Beyond being good stewards of ourselves, the rest is a crap shoot.  By that I mean that only God knows the future.  Only God knows what is best for us.   Only God can lead us along the path for each of us that will most likely make no sense to us here and now, but will make sense in the next life.

What we call "good" may be the worst thing for us.  What we call "bad" may be the very thing that God uses in our lives for our good.

We need a new mindset, kids!

As Christ-followers, we are not to be squeezed into the world's mold and ways.  

But getting back to surrender.

If I surrender, what next?  We can imagine all sorts of awful things.  I'm not sure where we swallowed that lie - that surrender brings heartache, loss, or suffering.

So what of it?  What if it does seem to bring more "bad" stuff than good?  Who are we to dictate to Almighty God how our lives should be?

What if I die?  What if God takes more than He gives?  What if God sends me to Africa and I hate it?  What if, what if, what if.  

First things first.

We need to know God and His character or else we will imagine the worst about God!

When we truly trust in anyone, we are saying, "I know you have my best interest at heart."  

All I know is that when I surrender, and keep surrendering, and stay surrendered to God, I feel free on the inside.  A tremendous weight is lifted.  It puts the onus of my life on God, right where it belongs.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. 

It's not our rodeo, kids.  It's His.

It's not that we are puppets.  Far from it.  But we become vessels.  We become vessels actually fit to be used by God.  

When we stand before Christ - and be assured, we all will - all that will matter in that moment is that we did His will during our time on earth.  

And we cannot do His will if we are asserting our own (strong) wills.

Give it up, kids!  Surrender to Christ and keep surrendering and be free already.  Trust Him.  Listen to Him.  Obey Him.  Deny yourself the "right" to yourself, your will, and become a true Christ-follower.

Dear Jesus.  Oh how we tend to want to hold too tightly to the reins of our lives.  What fools we can be!  Give us true wisdom, Lord.  For when we surrender to you, that is the highest form of wisdom we can possess and act on.  It doesn't matter how it "looks."  All that matters is how it truly is in Your eyes.  Help us value this truth!  In Jesus' Name. Amen.

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