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Surrender
I thought I would talk about something a little more personal this time. There are so many ways we in the church speak about following Jesus Christ. We speak about our spiritual walk, involvement in ministry, accountability, and so on. But I am wondering what this really has to do with surrender.
Surrender...an oft-mentioned word, but one whose meaning I think alludes even the most spiritual of us all. The reality and full import of this word is hitting home with me in a more real way than I have yet known. I remember approximately seven years ago, give or take, I said to a friend of mine, "I want to surrender completely to God." He replied solemnly, "Then get ready." I think of Jesus when He said to His disciples, "these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you" (John 16:4). Read the preceding verses. There were requirements of the disciples that they did not initially understand, costs that they did not originally take into account, because the Son of God to some degree withheld the full implications of discipleship, the all-out price of surrender.
I wonder if any of the disciples began to question whether they could possibly continue in faithfulness to God with such opposition of man, flesh, and the devil. But the undercurrent of confidence in Christ sustained them in the midst of such promises of impending suffering, rejection, and baleful foes. They knew there was no other for whom they lived or died any more. Jesus Christ had become everything to them, the One for Whom they had forsaken family, left all semblance of worldly sanity, cast away any surety of financial remuneration. There was no longer even a place whereupon they might lay their heads for a night of undisturbed rest. Home had taken on a new meaning. The faithful followers of the Son of God were at home wherever they were because they were with Jesus wherever He was.
I have no idea what tomorrow is going to hold for me. I have no job. I have no career, or any ambitions for one. I have no income. I have no wife. I have no lasting comfort of any kind in this world. Physical afflictions arise about which I can do nothing naturally. Loneliness is no longer a plausibility, but a guarantee. But my God, You are faithful. There are places and works in ministry I know God has called me to and spoken clearly of, but no finances, disobedience of men, and Satanic resistance have been consistent opposing influences. Does this mean that God has no control over the circumstances? God forbid that anyone would ever consider such a thing. Think of Paul in 1Thessalonians 2:18 "Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us." But praise be to God, His Word is never hindered! Oh how awesome is God Almighty in all of His sovereignty.
Oswald Chambers had it right when he spoke of the dance of circumstance. He said, "At times it appears as if God has not only forsaken His word, but has deliberately deceived us. We asked Him for a particular thing, or related ourselves to Him along a certain line, and expected that it would mean the fulness of blessing, and actually it has meant the opposite--upset, trouble and difficulty all around, and we are staggered, until we learn that by this very discipline God is bringing us to the place of entire abandonment to Himself" (Not Knowing Whither, The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers, 868).
Isn't that what it is all about--abandonment to God regardless of the outcome in my personal experience? Think about what happens when you surrender to your conqueror. Your hands go up, your knees hit the dirt as you plead for mercy, and you do whatever his whim and fancy beckon. Whether you look like his fellow or his fool is of no account, you are no longer in control. (See 1Corinthians 4:9-16). This, I suspect, is surrender to the true Conquering King. And so I go on with my Lord Jesus Christ, learning how to step into God's stride, carried into the all-encompassing compellings of God. What will tomorrow look like? I do not know. But any residual bitterness of surrender's cup is becoming sweeter as I drink it deep in communion with the Everlasting Lord, Who became the Servant of all that He might purchase me as His slave of love.
Surrender...an oft-mentioned word, but one whose meaning I think alludes even the most spiritual of us all. The reality and full import of this word is hitting home with me in a more real way than I have yet known. I remember approximately seven years ago, give or take, I said to a friend of mine, "I want to surrender completely to God." He replied solemnly, "Then get ready." I think of Jesus when He said to His disciples, "these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you" (John 16:4). Read the preceding verses. There were requirements of the disciples that they did not initially understand, costs that they did not originally take into account, because the Son of God to some degree withheld the full implications of discipleship, the all-out price of surrender.
I wonder if any of the disciples began to question whether they could possibly continue in faithfulness to God with such opposition of man, flesh, and the devil. But the undercurrent of confidence in Christ sustained them in the midst of such promises of impending suffering, rejection, and baleful foes. They knew there was no other for whom they lived or died any more. Jesus Christ had become everything to them, the One for Whom they had forsaken family, left all semblance of worldly sanity, cast away any surety of financial remuneration. There was no longer even a place whereupon they might lay their heads for a night of undisturbed rest. Home had taken on a new meaning. The faithful followers of the Son of God were at home wherever they were because they were with Jesus wherever He was.
I have no idea what tomorrow is going to hold for me. I have no job. I have no career, or any ambitions for one. I have no income. I have no wife. I have no lasting comfort of any kind in this world. Physical afflictions arise about which I can do nothing naturally. Loneliness is no longer a plausibility, but a guarantee. But my God, You are faithful. There are places and works in ministry I know God has called me to and spoken clearly of, but no finances, disobedience of men, and Satanic resistance have been consistent opposing influences. Does this mean that God has no control over the circumstances? God forbid that anyone would ever consider such a thing. Think of Paul in 1Thessalonians 2:18 "Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us." But praise be to God, His Word is never hindered! Oh how awesome is God Almighty in all of His sovereignty.
Oswald Chambers had it right when he spoke of the dance of circumstance. He said, "At times it appears as if God has not only forsaken His word, but has deliberately deceived us. We asked Him for a particular thing, or related ourselves to Him along a certain line, and expected that it would mean the fulness of blessing, and actually it has meant the opposite--upset, trouble and difficulty all around, and we are staggered, until we learn that by this very discipline God is bringing us to the place of entire abandonment to Himself" (Not Knowing Whither, The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers, 868).
Isn't that what it is all about--abandonment to God regardless of the outcome in my personal experience? Think about what happens when you surrender to your conqueror. Your hands go up, your knees hit the dirt as you plead for mercy, and you do whatever his whim and fancy beckon. Whether you look like his fellow or his fool is of no account, you are no longer in control. (See 1Corinthians 4:9-16). This, I suspect, is surrender to the true Conquering King. And so I go on with my Lord Jesus Christ, learning how to step into God's stride, carried into the all-encompassing compellings of God. What will tomorrow look like? I do not know. But any residual bitterness of surrender's cup is becoming sweeter as I drink it deep in communion with the Everlasting Lord, Who became the Servant of all that He might purchase me as His slave of love.
posted by Bryan | 1:12 AM
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