Sweet Surrender

The Sweet Surrender

The world that we live in is going through a rocky and turbulent season. I do not think any of us know for sure how this will all play out. I for one am guilty of spending too much time in this season filled with worry and doubt and unwarranted stress. It has been one tumbling block after another, my health, my grief, my daughter’s broken body, Covid19, continued injustices of our fellow brothers and sisters of Christ, and just a very evil world. I, like many of you, found myself glued to a never-ending news cycles of doom and gloom.

I started reading and seeking knowledge from the bible, from Christian scholars and from level-minded scientist, to try and find some sort of grip on this season of chaos. My tipping point was a conversation with my child. I realized that my anger and confusion was seeping through every area of life and I PRAYED for guidance and help.

I was mad, angry and had a feeling of unease. I prayed, “Lord this is not what I want, but if it is what you want than let it be.” Just saying those words opened my mind to hearing sermons and finding scriptures that fit this moment of chaos. SURRENDER IT TO GOD. I was reminded that my daughter is a blessing from God (a gift) and that it is my job to love, cherish, teach, and prepare that gift for becoming her own person. I was reminded by Paul’s letters that this gift is only for a short time, that she is the possession of God. I was reminded that every season under the sun is planned, purposed, and watched over by God. That with each chaotic moment, if we focus on the Lord, we will see the meaning, we will see the purpose, we will see how it is meant to awaken us, shape us and prepare us for the next season.

I found sweet surrender, “letting go and letting God”. That phase has been around for a long time; however, I never knew that the “letting go” the “surrender” is a hard practice of obedience. I think each of us Christians, considers ourselves to be obedient to the Lord. Are we? To be obedient to the Lord means letting go of your ideas, your agendas, your plans and accepting God’s planned purpose for your life. True obedience is hard. And looking around at this season that we are in, I can definitely see that we have not been obedient to the Lord, we have not put his planned purposes before our own agendas, we have not adhered to the simple instructions of Jesus. In Jesus’ last days on earth, as he was trying so hard to get it all out to the disciples, he condensed his message, his hope, his commandment to these simple words…Love One Another as I Love You! To know Jesus is to love Jesus, to love Jesus is to love one another, to love one another is to surrender to the Lord’s planned purpose of your life. We are here to worship, praise, and love!!!! That is it.

Surrendering is so sweet. To look at the sky, the birds, the trees, the flowers and see Christ in all things and to accept that as he has prepared and provided for each of those things, he too has prepared and provided for us and he will deliver us from this evil. All we need to do is surrender to his will and be obedient.

I read an article the other day about “the end times” and it compared such times to a puzzle. That when we put a puzzle together, we start with the edges and work ourselves in. He laid out the edges and opined how the inner pieces are starting to come together. I like you cannot predict what day Jesus will come back for us, but I know that in the interim it falls on us Christians to spread the good news of Jesus and to surrender to his planned purpose for our lives.

I thought I’d write this blog about my thoughts and feelings towards the Quarantine or the Black Lives Matter movement, but all those things and more are covered by the love, grace and saving granted to us by Christ. To be a Christian is to love. So, anyone out there living with hate in their heart…not so sure they are saved or can call themselves a child of Christ. He loved us all. He accepted us all. He died for us all.

Enjoy your sweet surrender to Christ! Be kind to one another! Live in Love and Grace!

 

Article on end-times preparedness 

https://www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/guest-commentary/ways-to-be-prepared-for-the-end-times.html

Truth for life Podcast/blog on children

https://www.truthforlife.org/broadcasts/2020/06/09/children/

Article on racism and Christianity

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/june-web-only/george-floyd-protests-racism-nation-on-fire-needs-spirit.html

Article on being alone (Quarantine) and seeking Jesus

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/10-ways-thrive-quarantine/

Scriptures: 

James 4:7 Submit yourselves to God, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Jeremiah 29:11 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.

Esther 4:14 Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 

1 John 4:20 If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 

Quotes:

Martin Luther King - "There comes a time when silence is betrayal". 

Mandisa - "We all bleed the same, we're more beautiful when we come together"

King Solomon: "to show partiality in judging is not good" - Proverbs 24:23