True Surrender

As I began to pen the words in my prayer journal, I stopped.  I had been praying, "Lord, teach me how to really surrender to You".  At that moment, I suddenly realized how hard it was for me to really surrender that thing to God.  "Lord, I don't know what to do in this situation, please give me wisdom, please show me what to do, please help me...." but that wasn't the prayer God wanted me to pray for this situation, the prayer He was asking me to pray was, "Father, I surrender this one totally to You!"

There are times in our lives when God brings us to situations that we can't control, we feel totally helpless to bring about an outcome.  Nothing we can do works.  It's a dead end street!  It's that feeling of utter helplessness, "I can't handle this one God!"

And so I was left with a decision, I could either give it totally to God or.....what else could I do?

I'm the type of person who likes to solve problems, who loves a challenge.  I want to be able to figure people out, situations, questions.  But this one I couldn't, period.  I wanted to ask God to show me what "to do" about it; what a self-centered, self-sufficient, un-surrendered prayer!  "Just give me the map, the plan!"  "Give me the directions Lord, I'll make this work out!"  "Or, I'll just give up.  I don't have to have a good attitude about this, I don't have to be nice, I'll just avoid the situation!"  Perfect fix, right?  When you can't do anything to change it, when you can't control it, when it's not working out how you think it should, just avoid it, let down any expectations you have.  Forget about it!

But is that true surrender?   No.  Neither scenario is surrender.  You see surrender isn't a "yes", nor is it a "no".  It's not always God saying, "Here's what I want you to do, even  though you don't want to do it".  Nor is it always, "Here's what to avoid, here's what to give up."  Too often I have viewed surrender as giving up something, as saying "No", "I'm giving this up for God."  But I think surrender is deeper than that, I think it's harder than that, it penetrates from our heart...really from the heart of God!

You see, giving up things is something we can do in our own strength. It's almost a works orientated religion, "I'll give this to you and this and this."         1 Corinthians 13:3 says: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."  The ultimate sacrifice, giving our bodies to be burned; Wow! that's surrender, right?  And yet the Word of God says, "It will profit you nothing."

God requires obedience not sacrifice.  But then we must find out, what does he require of us?  What does His commandment say?  "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you."  John 15:12

Simple.  Deep.  Difficult!  Love - true love!  In every situation, whether difficult or easy, whether you feel like it or not.  That's surrender.  Being willing to say, "Lord, I trust you".  "Lord, I give the outcome of these situations to You.  I'm not out there for what I can gain, I'm just going to have to live by your law and love no matter what happens."

Surrender.  Being willing to leave the results to God.  Not having an opinion in a given situation.  Not having a hidden agenda beneath the surface.  Not trying to work out your own problems.  Not giving up when things aren't working out the way you think they should.  Waiting on God's timing.  Letting God lead in your life.  Loving when you don't feel like it, loving when you don't see the benefits, loving without any hidden motives, loving when it doesn't come naturally, loving even when it hurts, loving like Jesus when you don't see why you should....That's surrender!

Waiting for God's Timing

"The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him to the soul that seeketh Him.  It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord."  
-Lamentations 3:25-26

Waiting....Not something I like to have to do.  Imagine you are standing at the back of a long row of people waiting for the checkout lane in the local grocery story.  Or maybe you are running late to an appointment, and you get caught in a traffic jam.  Patience! There's a reason it's called a virtue!  While these little examples can put a grin on our faces for those of us who have experienced them, what about the big things?  There's life decisions - decisions that affect your future life, happiness, and well-being, in short, the direction of your life.

I remember waiting to go to college, it seemed like the time would never be right!  If I would have started college at the time when I wanted to (and thought I was ready) I would be a Junior by now, but I would have missed out on the plan that God had for me all along!

There are greater things than what I've mentioned.  What about waiting for heaven?  We all long for something better, to be reunited with love ones who have passed away, to live eternally where there will never be any pain, and to have all our tears will be wiped a way. Most of all, we long to see our Redeemer, the Savior who is our best Friend and to be able to cast our crowns at His feet saying, "He died for me!"  Patience, waiting....

"The Lord is good to them that wait for Him...."  The interesting thing I find in this verse is that it says we should wait for the salvation of the Lord.  Don't we all have salvation already?  Colossians 1:13&14 speaking of our Heavenly Father says, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.  In whom we have redemption through His blood even the forgiveness of sins."  "Hath delivered" = past tense.  "We have redemption" = present tense.  So what are we to make of this?  Why do we have to wait for our salvation when we are already saved?

Let me give you some examples of the omniscient God we serve.  First of all, He told Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I anointed you as a prophet to the nations."  Jeremiah 1:5.  Just as assuredly as God knew Jeremiah, and had a plan for his life, He knows each of us!  You see, before I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, before I knew how to study the Bible, God had already planned where I would go through the SALT program (school of Evangelism at Southern).  Before my mom planned on helping out with an evangelistic series over twenty years ago, God had already planned for my dad to be there so they could meet each other.  Before my dad ever felt called to ministry, God already knew what conference president would hire him.

Could it be that although God give us the promise of salvation now, we are still waiting for the ultimate fulfillment?  Maybe God is trying to tell us that we can have perfect rest, assurance, joy, and peace as we wait on His perfect timing to reveal His salvation in our lives.  But notice here, it's not that we don't have an answer, it's just that we are not yet ready to receive His answers!  He says that we can be "confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work in you shall perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ."  Philippians 1:6

You see, everything in our lives is predicted by God, nothing slips the notice of His eyes.  Our future is not something vague. We are not left to wander around through life without a map, without a plan.  The answer to our prayer is not something far-off in the distance. Praying and waiting on God isn't some mythical formula; it is predictable, it's something-Someone- that we can stake our future, our entire lives upon!!  It's just a matter of timing.  "He hath made every thing beautiful in his time...."  Ecclesiastes 3:11.  How beautiful!  What a God we serve!   We have Someone who knows when we are ready for the ultimate fulfillment of His promises.  He knows when we are ready for each of the new steps we have to take in life. Where I would push ahead, he holds me back and whispers "wait", where I would be afraid to plunge forward and work for Him, He says "trust me, you can do all things through My strength."

I am reminded of a story in the Bible where Daniel was given a vision regarding what would take place in the future.  The vision made him sick, because he did not know what the interpretation was.  Daniel had been fasting and praying. He says "while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel....touched me about the time of the evening oblation.  And he informed me, and talked with me, and said O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.  At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision."  Daniel 9:21-23  From the very beginning of Daniel's prayer, the angel Gabriel had been sent forth to answer his prayer and give him wisdom and understanding!

Whatever you are waiting for in your life, whatever you are praying for now, know that we serve a God who cares!  Each of us is a beloved child of God, as much as Daniel was.  He says to us "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying, yea I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee."  Jeremiah 31:3.  We are given such beautiful promises from the Word of God!  He tells us:  "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."  Isaiah 65:24.  "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying this is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.  Isaiah 30:21

God is the Creator, our Master Designer, He has the blueprint for our lives, and all He is waiting is for us to do is give him the paint brush!!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  

-Jeremiah 29:11

God is Faithful!!

There are some things you can't fully understand unless you just wait and let God work it out.  There are some things that words just cannot express, you just have to experience it.  And then there are those things that we will really not fully understand, or fully experience till heaven.  But until then, I will use finite words, to paint an imperfect picture, of the understanding, the glimpse of heaven on this earth that I have been privileged to experience here!

"Let's pray", I said to Jaime, my outreach, partner as we drove to the meetings.  "I think we should go straight to pick up our friend (a Bible study contact), and not call her first, we don't want to give her the opportunity to say no." We began praying and pleading for her, that God would take away the pain of her knee surgery, that the Holy Spirit would place in her a deeper desire to come to the meetings, and that we would have the right words to say.  I claimed the promises such as "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."  Matthew 5:6;  and "So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void...."  Isaiah 55:11. In my heart there was another prayer in the back of my mind...let me explain.

You see this week my parents had been visiting from out of State and I hadn't had very much time to spend with them.  Saturday night there would be a big family get-together (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.)  I told my parents, "I don't think I am going to be able to make it, I really want to be at the meetings."  I am very blessed to have a family that while they value our family and love to spend time together, they value God more, and they wouldn't force me to choose them over anything else.  But if that wasn't enough, Friday night, another family get together, a early Thanksgiving meal pops up.  "I really wish you could come to this one", my mom said.  That made it harder to say no.  I didn't think I should choose family over the meetings, but I decided to pray about it one more time.  As I began to pray for wisdom the impression came upon me, "Why are you praying that, you already know the answer?  You need to be there to pick up Mrs. M, and be there for her!"  The words of Jesus flooded into my mind, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother....yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."  Luke 14:26.  The word hate there means to love less.  Do I love Jesus and His work more than the closest family in my life?  My decision was made!

And so my prayer was, "Lord you know I have chosen this over spending time with my family, I've made this sacrifice, please reward me and help Mrs. M, to come!"  Then I was slightly rebuked as I thought, "I cannot merit anything, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice, he died for her!  I am to claim HIS merits, He desires her to come more than I ever could!!"

Mrs. M. decided to venture out!  Her first outing other than physical therapy since her knee replacement!  I couldn't keep my joy in!  I wondered if people were looking at me funny, I just couldn't keep a straight face, I was smiling the whole meeting!  I honestly hadn't felt such joy since my baptism.  Sacrifice?  Really??  She said she enjoyed the meetings, and that the speaker seemed like a really nice man.

All of the sudden, I realized how perfect the timing had been.  It reflected on where I was in life, God is asking me to seek my fulfillment, my ultimate joy, in His service.  Whether it means being separated from my family because of mission/ministry work, or any unknown struggle I may find in the future!  As I look ahead, at the bright future, college, life, dreams, God wants my heart, He wants me to find a family in the church family, He wants His heart and His service to be what fills my heart!  He loves me more than anyone else can ever!  He can fill me with more joy than anyone or anything else this world could EVER offer!

As I think back over the evening, and the joy that the Lord filled me with, I have to ask myself the question, Can life get any better than this?  If there is one thing I have learned in the past few years, it is that the most fulfillment I have ever found in my life is through serving my beloved Savior!!

I may never fully understand His purposes, why some people come to the meetings, why others do not, why God asks us to give up things, why God asks us to give up all.  But one thing I can know, God knows the best, and He needs my heart, He needs me to surrender all to Him so I can be used by Him.  And no matter how much joy even if it be joy in suffering here on this earth that I experience, there will be so much more depths of His love to plunge into for all of eternity!!

But there's more to the story....life continues here on earth while we wait and work until heaven.....

So anther busy week starts, before I know it it's Tuesday - the day I go canvassing.  Last week I had chosen canvassing over spending time with my family, and I hadn't sold any books.  I woke up with a prayer on my lips, "Lord you will have to help me accomplish a lot today, I have lots of homework, but I can't miss canvassing, and I know this is your work, the best work, so please prepare the hearts of the people I am going to be meeting tonight, I will work for You, the results are up to You!"

The two hours I had for homework, went very fast, as I poured over a book, I have two days to finish reading before the book report is due, the clock chimed 4, before I knew it I was running to work.  I usually never set goals, and books is my focus not money, but today I thought, "Wouldn't be a blessing if I earned $100 working today?  I know God cold do it through generous donations!"

The evening was a blessing-3 hours or canvassing and door knocking, and the result?  I can't even keep track of all the stories, a lady buys a Great Controversy (for her son who likes history!) and I give her a God's Answers too.  A lady gives me $10 for no books, an Adventist Professor buys a book for $20 to help me out, someone buys a cookbook for $30, a college student buys a God's Answers.  So the evening ended, with 6 books being sold!  Now, I have canvassed for 3 years now, and there are whole days you work without selling 6 books.  As I counted up the money, it totaled $117!  What a blessing!!  God truly knows how to reward us!

God is so faithful!  I don't deserve it!  I didn't do anything to earn His blessings.... but, He just keeps pouring them out upon me!  His mercies are knew every morning, "great is Thy faithfulness". Lamentations 3:23  He says: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33.  And "Them that honor me I will honor." 1 Samuel 2:30.  The Lord is faithful, He keeps His promises!!  What a wonderful God we serve!

When We Give Our All

Oh what do we give up when we give him our all?
Oh what do we lose when we surrender to Him?

Oh what do we have to gain when seeking to satisfy ourselves?  Shall we not turn from our broken cisterns to the fountain that flows pure and free?

Oh what can we give in exchange for our souls?  Can the treasures of this life compare with eternities?

Oh what do we have to fear, oh where is the pain in letting Christ guide? His plans for us our good, His peace flows as a river.

Oh what do we fear and why do we wait to give Him our all?

Our hearts desires, our dreams, our failures, those deep places hid away.  What will they really do for us?  How is it that we think we can plan our own lives, and carve happiness from the things of this life?  How is it that we tremble at the feet of One who willing gave all for us?

How is it that when cares roll upon us, we paddle the oars as we float along alone?

Where is our heart where do we turn when friends fail, and family is far away, dreams and goals disappoint our strength fades to feebleness?

Oh what have we to lose by turning from our empty cup, to the One whose cup overflows?

Oh why do we tarry so long, when Jesus promises to walk with us?

Oh why do we cling to the things of this earth, to our dreams, to our passions, our pride?When Jesus says He that loveth His life will lose it but He that loses His life for my sake will find it?

Oh what do we have to risk, oh why do we hold back?  Oh why do we scurry here and scurry there, looking for fulfillment in every place except the only One who can truly satisfy?

Oh friend, what do you have to lose?  Oh sister surrender to Him.  Oh brother let him strengthen you for his service.  Oh what do we give up when we give up all?  Oh what do we have to lose?  Jesus stands at the door of our heart pleading and waiting expectantly, Oh how can we leave him waiting outside, when our hearts are so empty and cold?  Oh how can we keep on going lukewarm, oh how can we keep running on an empty tank?  Oh why do we trust a heart that is deceitful, over a heart that is warm with love?  A heart that gave all a heart that yearns over us, a heart that weeps over us, a heart that prays over us with quivering lip, a heart that will not let us go.  Oh how can we turn from a heart that is pursuing us so relentlessly, to pursue those things that will never truly satisfy?  

"You who in heart long for something better than this world can give, recognize this longing as the voice of God to your soul." 
- Steps to Christ pg. 28 

“In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him.  Hence the Savior says, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he that, he cannot be My disciple."  Luke 14:33.  Whatever shall draw away the heart from God must be given up." 
- Steps to Christ pg. 44 

“But what do we give up, when we give all?  A sin-polluted heart, for Jesus to purify, to cleanse by His own blood, and to save by His matchless love.  And yet men think it is hard to give up all!  I am ashamed to hear it spoken of, ashamed to write it.  God does not require us to give up anything that it is for our best interest to retain.  In all that He does, He has the well-being of His children in view.  Would that all who have not chosen Christ might realize that He has something vastly better to offer them than they are seeking for themselves." 
- Steps to Christ 46

Oh what can we compare to the sacrifice of Christ?  Oh what can we exchange to be worthy of His matchless love?  Oh give Him your heart today!!