The power of the surrender

Hey there BCU Family!

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A number of years ago, I was praying and “randomly” (nothing with God is random–we are the random ones) asked the Lord to please make sure a particular “unpleasant” assignment that was being assigned to others never came to me.

A few years after that, someone told me I may need to take that unpleasant task on. I bristled and prayed some more.

The next year, the Lord started letting me know that what I prayed for Him NOT to give me was coming my way.

I prayed. I cried. I pleaded. I had people interceding for me. And…then it looked like someone else would get to do the work I was trying to avoid.

But shortly after that, the Lord let me know the task was officially all mine.

God was clear, BCU Fam. I sort of accepted what He told me, but as a “temporary assignment”.  You know, how you get it done, but don’t give your all? That was me. Oh, I did what He said, but half-way, half-heartedly–and with a spirit of resistance. And with each passing day, as I eagerly waited for God to reassign what I knew that He knew that  I did not want, the weight of the frustration, confusion, anger, lack of understanding and general “fighting” against God’s orders were starting to exhaust me physically, mentally and most of all in my spirit.

When I got tired enough and actually started to listen to God, He let me know to accept His will and that I was to rely only on Him to carry out what He tasked me with. Basically, I needed to surrender my understanding, my way of wanting to do things, my anger, my hurt, my pain, my will—- in exchange for trusting God to walk me through this unexpected season in my life. Key word here is surrender. Let’s look at how Webster’s dictionary defines surrender:

To cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority. To give in, give (oneself) up, yield, concede or submit. 

Obviously, God is not an enemy or opponent, but we can become oppositional to Him when we are unwilling or slow to obey and that never goes or ends well, right?  It 3was now time to yield to to the perfect will of God. BCU Family, can I tell you that once I fully surrendered–took my posture of submission to God, I felt so much lighter, clearer in my thoughts and wasn’t as wiped out. As a matter of fact, someone actually commented on how much more rested I looked, so I was wearing the battle on my face–that could nor have been a good look!  Let’s take a look at this whole situation through the lens of the Word of God.

• Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us that our ways and thoughts are not God’s at ALL. In fact, they are  are higher. So that tells us that what God has in mind for us is so much better than what our finite, limited  minds can comprehend.

• David said, “as for God, His way is perfect, the word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him” (Psalms 18:30).  Perfect here means complete and whole, so that lines up the verses from Isaiah 55:8-9, right? PLUS, God’s word is proven — meaning He does what He says AND He is a buckler [a shield that protects], to those who trust Him. We are guaranteed that in exchange for our trust, God’s complete way, word and protection is with us throughout the battle.

• Finally, Romans 8:28 says, “and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.  That verse tells me that God is intentional about what He allows to take place in our lives. And that intentionality serves such a greater purpose that we may not always see, like, understand or quite frankly enjoy–but it is for our good and His glory.

As we wrap up, it’s important to note that surrendering may not always mean God will immediately remove or quickly end our situation, but, as we submit to Him, His perfect (there’s that word again), peace comes. We clearly hear God’s instructions and as we obey them, we begin to feel more equipped and start to adjust to our charge, thereby adjusting to being more like Jesus. Remember—being more like Jesus now paves the way for us to be with Jesus in eternity.  Amen? Amen!

So BCU Fam, about those special assignments God has given you… you know, the spouse/family member that constantly irks, the co-worker or neighbor that rubs everyone the wrong way, the kids that half-listen, the “repeat offender” who seems to enjoy patience-testing others? With His help, I have to be intentional about surrendering to what God says when these pop quizzes come—how about you? Let’s talk about that some more in the comments section below. I’m excited to continue our conversation.

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Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU