When I think of the Lord, I find myself falling into a state of overwhelming awe. So while this post is about abandoning self and chasing wholeheartedly after the God who is in every way superior, I want to share three simple truths about who God is and why he is worthy of our surrender:
God is good. We serve a God who is so good we, in our humanness, can’t fully understand how the goodness of God steadfastly exists in every situation
God is sovereign. In every moment and in every situation we come across, God is in control. Our God is 100% in control of anything that happens in our life. This may be hard to see when things get hard, but remember that God has promised he will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can stand *with his help* (1 Corinthians 10:13). Yes, he will allow us to be tempted, but he is sovereign. Nothing will touch us without God first knowing that we can withstand it as we rely on him for strength.
God is faithful. The Lord has promised that he will never leave or forsake us many times throughout scripture. His promises never fade, and his faithfulness is eternal.
This is the God to whom I surrender.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.” -Matthew 16:24
Surrender is the heart of faith. It means laying everything at the foot of the cross, trusting the Lord, and accepting His grace. It’s laying down your problems, your sins, your plans, your dreams, your desires, your life, and picking up the salvation that Jesus died on the cross for you to gain.
Surrender means giving your heart, your whole heart, to the Lord. It means giving up the plans you have in your mind of what your life should be like. It means seeking the Lord with every ounce of strength that you have inside of you, despite circumstances trying to steal that strength away.
Surrender is more than a one-time decision. To me, the pursuit of surrender is something I strive for daily.
I have to wake up each morning and decide that God is worthy of my every breath. I would love to tell you that I made the decision once and I never question it, but that wouldn’t be true. I’m human. I make mistakes. I lose sight of how good, how sovereign, and how faithful my Lord is every single day. That is why I’m calling my surrender a pursuit. I’m pursuing the Lord and the life he has called for me, knowing that I, in my power alone, could never accomplish the plans he has for me. With each new problem that comes my way I’m striving to lay down at his feet, trusting that he is more capable of handling that situation than I am.
Lauren Daigle’s song “Trust in You” lays out the idea of surrender in such an incredible way. If you haven’t listened to it, I encourage you to do so. There is one part specifically that I want to share to sum up what the pursuit of surrender is all about:
“When you don’t move the mountains I’m needing you to move. When you don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through. When you don’t give the answers as I cry out to you. I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in you.”
Surrender is all about trusting that God’s plans are perfect, and his ways are good. It’s about acknowledging that he is all-powerful, that He can move mountains, split the sea, and answer any question you come to him with, but also acknowledging that he may not do these things for you because he has other plans in mind. His plan may be for you to climb to the top of the mountain instead of him moving it out of your way, or to stand and fight rather than him providing you a quick escape, or to wait months or even years before he will answer the questions you have for him.
In your pursuit of surrender, you have to trust that his plans and his timing are perfect. It’s about having the faith and the trust in God to answer “Here I am Lord, send me.” whenever and wherever he may call you. The pursuit of surrender is sacrificing yourself for the glory of God, knowing that by laying down your life to him, you gain infinitely more than you could ever lose.
My prayer is that you begin your pursuit of surrender if you haven’t already. See what the Lord can do in your life. Experience the joy of knowing and trusting in the One who made you. Lay down your life, take up your cross, and follow Him.