Today we spoke openly about Surrender.
Each and every one of us surrenders to something; or rather someOne.
1. We either surrender to our-self; doing what we choose and consider alright within our own moral (or immoral) boundaries.
2. We surrender to the Lord; doing what He wants us to do, and living by His standard of morality.
Oftentimes, I find it particularly easy to surrender to my Lord in certain areas of my life which can lead to me (or others) thinking I have it all together while still clinging to other areas of my life where I want to maintain my delusional modicum of control.
Surrendering only portions of myself or my life to the Lord is not surrender, but rather a pick-and-choose buffet. Taking what I want and leaving the rest. It is choosing what is 'comfortable' and 'easy' and leaving the other social norms to be dealt with at a later time, or simply to be swept under the rug to hopefully never surface again. But that is just hiding sin, not submitting to the one that can break the chains that hold me down.
Galatians 5:19-21 says, "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like..."
I don't know about you, but it's pretty easy to see that adultery and murder are wrong, but 'outbursts of wrath', 'selfish ambitions', 'jealousy' and 'envy' are things that I have struggled with at least once in my past, and more-likely something that I would rather allow to harbor and stew inside of me instead of laying them down before the throne of Jesus. Laying down those seemingly petty issues is actually an act of sacrifice that leads to freedom. We are in essence giving God the permission to do what He may in any given situation instead of taking the judge and jury all upon ourselves and enacting limited and pitiful judgement.
I listened today as a man told of how alcoholism was his father's vice, and something that he refused to surrender to the Lord. The consequences of his lack of surrender was a horrible and slow death where he slowly bled out of every orifice of his body until he finally perished.
Can you imagine giving up your life in that fashion where you actually chose that death? No, he didn't want to die that way, but choosing to NOT surrender his alcoholism to the Lord was a long therm choice to die a slow and painful death.
If that is what a man's choice to continue in alcoholism can do in the flesh, in the body; then what more can that same lack of surrender do in the spirit?
Jealousies listed above in Galatians 5 can also lead to a slow and painful death. Maybe not like the one I just mentioned, but still just as painful where the soul of the person clinging to their jealous ways becomes embittered and twisted until that is all they can see. Where relationships are ripped apart, and even their love of the Lord can be thrown away. All leading to a lonely and painful life where everyone else is to blame except yourself.
How many other ways can we trap ourselves by choosing what we want instead of what the Lord has for us?
Are you hemorrhaging physically or spiritually?
Who are you when you are alone?
Do your reactions to circumstances reflect the Lord, or show what is really hiding inside your heart?
The other option is to Surrender to the Lord.
This is not always an easy step, but it does get easier the more we do it, and it is the step that leads us to true lasting freedom and fulfillment.
Galatians 5 goes on to say, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."
These things may not be easy to obtain, but once you (and I) surrender to the Lord and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit these things not only become obtainable, but flow through us with a full measure of grace and joy.
My husband had a dream the other night that I feel describes this freedom in surrender.
'A man appeared in his dream and wanted to do him harm, so he began to wrestle with this stranger. The wrestling was long and difficult and seemed to never want to end. The longer the two men wrestled together the stranger began oozing slime out of his very being. That slime was thick, sticky and slippery, like a toxic sludge. The strangers slime began to surround both men as they wrestled. My husband wanted to give up, but felt it was important to keep going and finish the struggle that had begun even though he was now covered in this strangers trappings. As time went on my husband won the wrestling match and the stranger was SAVED!'
Who or what are you wrestling against today?
Is it dirty and messy?
Does there seem to be no end in sight?
Don't give up! Keep fighting and wrestling to win the fight that has begun. Surrender All and Call on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ...solicit Him to fight your battles for you and with you so that salvation from the battle, victory from the war can be won.
His plan is perfect and we can fully trust Him.
