Surrender

Yesterday I wrote about how I was going to surrender the battles that I have been fighting to God and let him take care of them as they should be.  As those words were being typed out, I thought about how big and important surrendering really is.  I also thought about how difficult (and perhaps rare) true surrender can be.  My definition of surrendering to God is essentially, you choosing His will over your own.  As I think of all the people that were written about in the Bible that were surrendered to God, I feel certain that surrender is more than just dressing a certain way, speaking a certain way and or leading a sinless life.  A completely surrendered life involves so much more.  Abraham had to leave his family and all that he knew because he was surrendered to God’s will.  Noah built an ark and was ridiculed for many years because He chose God’s will over his own.  Daniel had to face a den of lions because he chose God over the king.  Mary chose suffer shame and birth our Savior.  The disciples chose to be tortured and killed rather than deny Jesus.  There are two significant instances that symbolize true to surrender most clearly to me.  The first is when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his promised son.  As I think about Abraham, I believe that Abraham wept many tears but because he was completely surrendered to the will of God, and loved God truly, he could not refuse Him.  He probably wondered why God would ask such a difficult thing but those questions did not deter him from complete obedience.  That is true surrender.  The other person that amazes me at their willingness to surrender is Hosea.  God told Hosea to take a prostitute for a wife.  Because of Hosea’s love and surrender to God he takes Gomer to wife.  But that isn’t enough, God also commands Hosea to love her.   How difficult that must have been but Hosea loved God so therefore he loved and surrendered to that which God called him to.  Time after time Hosea had to go to the auction block to redeem his wife that he loved, from a life of prostitution.  Yet through all of the heartache, all the pain he was totally in love with and surrendered to God. 

Time after time God has called his people to surrender everything to Him.  Sometimes we tell him that we are surrendered but He quickly finds out that it is merely lip service because as soon as he asks us a difficult thing, we turn aside to our own way.  When we develop a true love for God, we will indeed surrender completely to his will for our lives.  Once we have learned to completely love and trust our Savior, we will indeed follow where he leads… regardless.