Surrendering My Will to His

Every time it seems that order is finally coming into my life and I think I understand what the Lord's will is for my life, there is a shift and nothing is in order again. Have you ever had that experience? I believe I have surrendered my life to Him; I believe that I have given total control to Him. I am at peace. I have clarity about what His expectations are for me and the use of my gifts and off I go down the yellow brick road to accomplish those tasks for Him. Then I suddenly realize, the yellow bricks are suddenly disappearing out from under my feet. First just a couple here and there, and that is not too alarming because I can still see the path ahead of me. Slowly however, I come to realize that there are fewer and fewer yellow bricks under my feet. I am forced to come to a complete stop when the bricks are completely gone. I am standing in the midst of a field - once again - without a clue as to where the yellow brick road went or where it might show up again. Sound familiar?

How does this happen to individuals who are truly trying to "Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" Luke 10:27? Perhaps a clue is contained in the first part of that question, we are truly trying. Sometimes maybe we are trying so hard, our "trying" gets in the way of our succeeding in becoming what the Lord is seeking of us. Have you ever tried for hours to balance your checkbook and in frustration set it aside only to come back the next day and in five minutes succeed? I see our walks in much the same light. Just like our checkbooks, we have a clear idea of how balanced they should be. We know that we should be paying attention to the "entries" daily. We know we need to "reconcile" the mistakes as soon as they occur or else we have a huge mess to clean up weeks (or months) later. Sometimes we have ignored the register for so long that the imbalance ends up with bounced checks and huge fees paid to the bank. Ouch! How similar is that to our walk with the Lord?

There are so many similarities that now that I have started down this path, it is startling me as I watch them unfold. So let's get back to the main point - we are trying to follow the path the Lord has for us through loving Him with our total selves. Yet somewhere along the way, we have become so focused on keeping the checkbook of our faith walk balanced that we have lost the big picture. We have lost the understanding that it is not about a system of checks and balances with the Lord. It is about living a life of total abandonment to Him; a life of total surrender to Him. Instead we have micromanaged our faith just as we manage our checkbooks. We question ourselves: am I doing enough for Him? Am I showing Him enough that I love Him through my activities? If we are truthful, are we asking Him about all aspects of our lives, or just those that are church related?

Allow me to challenge you with this concept: the Lord is more interested in your being with Him than your doing for Him. He is saying to you, "Come be with Me." Not "Go, do for Me." When you come and be with Him, really understand and step into the intimate relationship that He has for you, then He will make more than enough time for you to do the tasks that He has set aside for you to accomplish for His kingdom. James 2:17 "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." Make no mistake, you must accomplish much for His kingdom, but only after you have discovered the incredible power that resides within His infinite love for you. Then you will have the peace, the energy and the unquenchable desire to do more than you ever have and He will be walking beside you continually.

Ultimately it all boils down to total surrender. Giving up control over your life and giving to Him. Telling the Lord that whatever He wants to do with your life is OK with you. Really, God, I mean it. It is OK. Can you do that? Can you release those individuals in your life that you love but who are not making good decisions - at least not by your standards? Can you accept the fact that somebody else has the job you thought you should have had? How about the relationship someone else is enjoying that you wanted and still don't have? Can you accept your financial hardships when someone else is being blessed? Can you let all of that go and say, it's OK, God. I trust You with my life. After all You gave it to me in the first place. Can you believe that He really wants the best for you in the midst of your circumstances? That is what surrendering your will to His really means. You have to learn to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 My prayer for you and for myself is that we learn to put down the check book of our faith and lift our hands in surrender to Him who loves us more than we can possibly imagine.