What are we thinking when we struggle so much to just give it all up to God? What causes us to view surrender with such suspicion and fear? Why is it so difficult to release control of things that we really can't control anyway? What is it about how we view God that makes allowing him to dictate the direction of our lives so foreign to our normal way of thinking?
I am convinced that our failure to believe that God is actually good imay be behind our fears of surrender. I think we automatically assume that if we surrender, it will be used as license for God to take away the people and the things that we value, love and enjoy the most. For some reason, we believe that God does not have our best interests in mind - that He, in reality is a type of "cosmic killjoy" who delights in making our lives hard, miserable, difficult, and painful.
We somehow think if we can just stay in control of our lives, we will be able to create a world of our own with the right relationships, circumstances, successes, achievements and comforts that will bring that elusive thing we call happiness into our lives. The Bible tells us: "The Lord God is a sun and a shield, the Lord gives grace and glory, no good thing we withhold from those who walk up rightly." Psalm 84:11 That helps me. I don't always do the best job walking up rightly - but that is my sincere prayer, my life goal and my intention.
Unfortunately, it took cancer for me to finally surrender my life completely to Jesus! Before that, I was a Christian. I believed in Jesus. I went to church. I was a good person...but when the evils of that world of hurt called ductile carcinoma invaded my easy-going life, I realized just how far from trusting God completely I had been. Cancer created surrender for me. Though I hope never to have to go through that again, the things I learned FROM having it I treasure like no other.
Surrender isn't easy for any of us, but in retrospect, I know I sure wish I hadn't balked away from it for the majority of my life. I know I sure wish I could have realized the peace that comes with it long before having to go through cancer.
I'm not EVEN saying or implying that life in surrender is easier than before it. I still hurt, I still get sick, I still worry, I still have trouble sleeping, I still have bad days and I still have horrible days...but, I face the obstacles with comfort that it's not up to me to overcome them - but just give it to God - through prayer and an honest heart.
There's a quote I often use when teaching my courses and giving presentations on classroom management that goes something like this: IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DONE, YOU'LL ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU ALWAYS GOT. It's probably not the greatest English - but the message is worth marinating in. (She said while ending her sentence with a preposition!) The point being, if it's not working for ya - try something else for heaven's sake! I'm not the only one who thinks that, either. I've noticed that Dr. Phil has a rhetorical question he asks quite often, "So...how's that working for you?" As we examine our lives that we are living right now, let's ask ourselves: "How is that working for you?"
Just something to think about...
In His grip -
me - on my way to San Jose in about three minutes!
Again you have spoken great words in a time of need.
Have fun,be safe and lots of love,
JS
Posted by: J Stevens | March 17, 2009 at 09:37 PM