surrender
Hello friend! Welcome to the blog!
I am so excited for today- the Lord has been laying this topic on my heart, and I can’t wait to talk about it with y’all!
Friend, maybe you are in a season where you don’t know what is going on in your life. Maybe you’ve been trying to make sense of everything, worrying about the unknown, praying for clarity, and waiting for the Lord to guide you. Maybe you have even taken matters into your own hands- because you were tired of the waiting. And even if you are in a great place in life- this is for you.
When you think of the word SURRENDER, what comes to mind? Let’s start by talking about the definition of surrender. The word surrender has many meanings (source: Britannica Dictionary)-
To give control or use of something to someone else
To allow something to influence or control you
To agree to stop fighting, hiding, or resisting because you know that you will not win or succeed
Wow- the one that really hits me is that last one! Ya’ll, when we don’t surrender to the Lord, we are fighting Him! We are fighting Him, we are resisting Him- we are saying “Lord, I think I know what is best for my life.” Well, the truth is- we don’t know what is best for our lives and we never will! Why? Because we are just God’s children! We just see our temporary while God sees our eternity!
Ultimately, it comes back to TRUST! Do you truly trust that God loves you? Do you trust that He has an amazing plan and purpose for your life? Do you trust Him to guide you? God is GOD, and He is GOOD! It says in Jeremiah 29:11- “‘For I know that plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” If you truly believe that in your heart, then why would you continue to fight the Lord?
I think sometimes the word ‘surrender’ has a bad connotation. Some people may view it as a bad action- and by the world’s standards, it may be. But in God’s kingdom, real victory is in surrender! Because we are finally getting ourselves out of the way, and saying Lord “I’m done trying to do this on my own!” ABBA wants to lead us down the amazing path that He has set before us- but He wants us to have genuine faith in Him along the way! Genuine faith happens when we don’t know all of the answers; when we don’t see the results yet. Because then we need to rely wholeheartedly on the Lord, and we are letting Him do His thing- and that is BEING AN AMAZING GOD AND FATHER!!
I want to take a moment to paint this picture for you. Imagine this- you start out doing life on your own. You don’t know where you're going, you are not fulfilled, and you are miserable. You try to fill the void in your soul with other things- until finally, you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior! Then all of a sudden- you become lighter, and you have joy and fulfillment! The Lord wants you to hold His hand through life, so you grab onto it and start to follow where He leads! But along that way, there are some bumps and crossroads- some difficulties with life, some big decisions that need to be made. Now you know how life was before the Lord, and so you never want to let go of His hand, but, you think that you should go down that different road that appeared. So you then, still holding God’s hand, step in front and start to pull Him this way and that way, becoming exhausted and mad at God because things aren’t working out the way you want them to.
How often do we do this? How often do we all of a sudden think we know best and try to get ahead of God and pull Him in different directions? And then when things don’t work out we blame them on the Lord. But that entire time- God was still holding our hand, but He was trying to redirect us, get us back on track, and that is following His lead. How we do that; get back on track with the Lord, is by surrendering! We have to give up our own understanding; what our little, feeble, human minds think is best, and remember God’s nature, His character, and remember the fact that He IS GOD! We have to get HUMBLE- throw pride out the window! The Bible literally says, that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) We have to submit to the Lordship of Jesus- when we don’t we are forgetting the actual Lordship of Jesus! Like I said before, we are just His children! We aren’t supposed to know every detail along the way (Proverbs 21:24)
Friend, I just want to remind you today- HE’s GOT THIS! Whatever you have been stressing about, or worrying about, the Lord has already won the victory! He doesn’t want you to worry about tomorrow, He wants you to focus on being faithful TODAY! Sometimes, we can get so caught up in what’s next that we forget where God has placed us today! It says in 1 Peter 5:6-7
“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”
I just listened to an episode of the podcast called “Christ with Coffee on Ice” (my absolute fav btw :)) And the host, Ally Yost, said to think of it like a surprise party! When you are faithfully following God, surrendering to Him daily, and trusting Him, there’s no anxiety! There is so much freedom and peace, and excitement for the surprise party the Lord is leading you to! And that is one way you can identify if you have truly surrendered to the Lord- if you feel His joy and peace!
Friend, each day is a gift from the Lord. Let’s surrender every day- because we never know what the Lord is going to do! He has an incredible way of working miracles out of our surrender! I don’t know about you, but I want to glorify the Lord with everything I do and everything I have. I want to steward my days well, and the best way to do that is to surrender each day and be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s guidance! My pastor always says these two things:
“There is no waste in the kingdom of heaven” and
“Just Elsa that thing!”
Nothing that you surrender is wasted, just Elsa that thing and “let it go!” I challenge you to not waste a single day trying to work it out on your own! I encourage you to pray this every morning. When you wake up, say “Lord, I surrender this day- this day is yours. How can I bless you today, what are my marching orders for today?” Then be still, and listen for the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you. Sometimes, you may not hear a response immediately. But if you go into the day with that mindset, then the Holy Spirit will lead you and give you opportunities! Your job is to be obedient!
One last thing that I want to mention, is that if you have been praying for a breakthrough in a particular area, and you haven’t seen results, don’t be discouraged. The Lord is working behind the scenes, and hears your prayers! He will work everything out in His timing! Wait on God’s best, don’t take matters into your own hands! And just because you aren’t receiving that specific thing, that doesn’t mean that you must be stagnant! You have so much to be thankful for, and God wants you to be faithful to what He has given you today! Our daily tasks include:
to love what God loves, hate what God hates, stand for what God stands for, love God, love the people around us who are made in God’s image, and be bold in sharing His Good News at all times!
Let’s surrender, trust God, and be faithful; today. Because the most fufilling thing, is saying YES to Jesus, and giving everything to Him!
Thank you so much for reading friend! I know this was a longer blog post (and maybe a lot of facts at once) :), but this topic is so important! I hope this encouraged you today- and I can’t wait for the next blog post! I love y’all so much, and JESUS loves you more!
