Many Christians live feeling defeated the majority of their
lives. They love Jesus and want to do His will, yet they don’t know where to
start & have zero joy while going about their daily business. If a
non-believer looks at them, they don’t desire anything of what the Christian
possesses. Because most of them
are worn out, over-whelmed, burnt out, grumpy and just plain pissed off. What’s
the deal with that? Shouldn’t we be lights to a dark world? Shouldn’t we
radiate the joy of Jesus, so that those who don’t know Him WANT to? So why
don’t we?
I feel it’s because most Christians don’t know HOW to walk
in His strength… The key?
Surrender…
But what does that even mean? HOW do you surrender? Is it
physically? Emotionally? Spiritually? What?
I have learned recently that surrender is as simple as God
says it is in the bible.
“Whoever seeks to save their life will lose it. Whoever loses their life, will preserve it” ~ Luke 17:33
At first that seems confusing. But when you read this next
verse, it becomes ever so simple.
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must DENY THEMSELVES and take up their cross DAILY” ~ Luke 9:23
Surrender is as simple as DAILY denying ourselves and
allowing God His way to work through us. No reservations, no fears, no anxiety,
no barriers… We give up our rights and become free and flexible for us to be
the hands and feet of Jesus.
That’s a simple…yet scary thing to do.
God wants you to become aware of all the things you value
the most & all the things you fear the loss of and surrender them to Him…
even if that means you don’t get them back.
Are you willing to do that in order to walk in His power? If
you’re not that’s OK, He still loves you, even though you will continue to go
about things your way.
That way tends to be a bumpy road; reacting to feelings,
allowing people to push your buttons, which makes following Jesus so much more
difficult than it needs to be.
The way my friend, Lisa, taught all this to me was:
“It’s like trying to drive a Kia the way you would a Maserati. The Kia doesn’t have the horsepower to do all a Maserati can do and you may blow out an engine trying.”
God will let you drive the Kia, He will help you where
you are AND still give you the option of taking the keys of the Maserati in
exchange for your most valued possessions.
The Maserati is smooth, it’s able to
do immeasurably more than you could ask or imagine. You still have hills to
climb, but the horsepower of the Maserati makes them so much easier.
“The enemy wants to destroy you and your future, but God’s
redemptive power is released as you let God handle the burden for you!” ~ Suzie
Eller.
When you surrender to Jesus, He is taking the weight of your
burden & carrying it for you. Don’t pick it back up later in the day! Leave
it with Him…and then go about your business.
Knowing God is in control of your situation, allows you to surrender
whatever is getting in the way of Him using you. The fears of rejection, of
failure, of making a wrong decision, all these heavy weights that you hold on
to, give them to Jesus! He will gladly take them from you and in exchange, give
you the keys to the Maserati.
Reflection:
Are you ready to drive the Maserati? If so…
Make a list - of all you value the most.
Weigh the cost - of offering Him your valuables, or holding
on to them.
Make a choice - surrender…or continue your way.
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