I Surrender

I could not understand why the
Lord had forsaken me, especially concerning issues He made clear in His
promises to us through the scripture. 
Why, God, have you abandoned me, I asked in earnest prayer?  I know God does not deny His children of any
of the things He has promised.  Then He
showed me; I had not yet surrendered myself, my self, my will, to Him.

I always knew there were parts of
me in reservation.  I’m sure my reason
for holding out was ultimately that I did not want to give up my choice or
control of the direction of my life.  It
secretly terrified me, in fact.  Seek to
give someone else full, absolute control of my life??  There are things I don’t want to give up or
answer for.  Worse yet, first I’ll be
releasing the daily control of my life, and the next thing you know I will be a
missionary sleeping on a grass mat in a hut. 
This is actually the sort of things I feared.

However, I also know that the Lord is purely good and
desires only the best for me.  Therefore,
if I believed this, how could I deny that he would ever steer me wrong, no
matter where He led me?  There is simply
no way around the fact.  Furthermore,
Christ is clear in stating we must live in Him and in His example of perfect subjection
to the Father.  This means letting His
Holy Spirit, in us as Christians, be our guiding will and not our own.  With that, I asked the Father to give me the
courage and faith to trust Him – and then I let go.

On short order, everything
changed by leaps and bounds, and it’s been quite a journey ever since.  I realize now that God wants people around
Him who want to be around Him.  He won’t
force anybody.  I believe that is why He
gave us Free Will.  With the gift of His
saving grace available to all, any that make the choice to accept and obey Him
suddenly have all of His gifts at their disposal in faith through Jesus.

Consider the parable of the Sower
in Mark 4:3-20 and ask yourself which patch of ground you are.  Trust God and let go if you haven’t; God will
move mightily in your life far beyond your expectations, as you fulfill your
duty in this life – to worship God and surrender yourself, your self, to Him.

The Elephant, the Shackle, and Sin

Have you ever visited a circus
and browsed around to see the animals lingering?  If so, chances are good you have seen an
elephant laying around, a shackle on its leg, secured with a chain staked to
the ground.  The pachyderm can move
about, but only as far as the restraint allows.

The irony, however, is that
despite its massive capacity, the elephant is conditioned, perhaps even
content, with the fact the chain and stake can somehow confine him.

So it may be for a Christian.
Before being saved by Christ, we all are guilty of entangling ourselves in
sin.  However, a true Christian,
following Jesus’ indwelling Spirit, is fully forgiven and no longer held down
by sin.  As true children of God, we
enjoy a massive capacity for freedom from the sin that would otherwise confine
us.  We only need to confess and believe
Jesus’ promise we are forgiven and free, and live accordingly.  We are made blameless in Christ’s
Righteousness, so in turn we may commune with the Father Himself, praying in
His very presence.  This is the highest
privilege afforded to us through Christ’s atonement, for our primary purpose as
beings is to worship God.

That elephant’s chain can no more
really hold him than can sin in a Christian’s life, unless either is willing to
accept the deception it can.  In
recognizing who you are as God’s child, through Christ, you can shed the
constraint which really can’t constrain, and live and serve as who you really
are – a blameless child of the Mighty Lord.

Father, you are mightier than anything in my life.  I am a sinner, who without Jesus’ forgiveness
am condemned and harnessed in my wrongdoing. 
Please continue to remind me of who I am as your child, in a blameless
state, thanks to your Son who I accept as my Master and Savior.  It’s in His name I pray.  Amen.