Surrender

I am helpless. Seriously, what can I actually do in my own strength? My very life, breath, and ability to do anything at all comes from God. Without God I am nothing - quite literally. In the end, I can't fight hard enough to win the battle. I can't work hard enough to achieve salvation, to accomplish goals, or to fulfill a calling. I can't think hard enough to come up with all of the answers. Yes, I can still do my best at fighting, working, and thinking but it all eventually comes down to God choosing to make my efforts actually be successful, my circumstances to actually work out, or my brain to actually decipher an acceptable answer. I can do nothing on my own simply because God is in control of everything. I rely wholly on His strength.

Have you ever been worried, scared, or stressed? We all have. Was there anything you could actually do to take away your feelings at that moment and attain peace? For me, whenever I find myself worrying or stressing about something, it is much more effective to simply quit. Quit worrying. Don't give in to fear. Let go of the doubts that are plaguing you and taking you captive. In the words of Jesus to His disciples in the midst of a storm on the Lake of Galilee, "Where is your faith?" I can, should, and must trust God with my life - both the seemingly small details and the overwhelmingly massive situations. He is big and strong. He's got it all under control. As my pastor said in church today, "We worry because we are not resting in the sovereignty and providence of God." We simply need to cease striving and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). 

At the current moment in my life a lot of unknowns exist. I don't know what I'm going to do about this, that, and the other problem that is popping up in front of me. Daily issues and future questions both seem to stare me in the face all of the time and demand answers that I can't give. The who, what, why, and where of life often confuse and baffle our finite minds, but we don't have to worry about them. God is in control. He is the good shepherd and will take care of His sheep. There's a good analogy - sheep. Can a flock of sheep control the food they have around them to eat, the weather they have over their heads, or the animals that try to attack them? No. Will worrying about it help? Again, the answer is clearly no. The shepherd controls what food they have by leading them to green pastures. The shepherd protects them from bad weather by building a place of shelter for them. It is the shepherd who also protects them from the beasts of prey that would love to devour the helpless sheep if they just had a chance. What then is the job of the sheep themselves? Surely they have to do something. The role of the sheep is to seek out the shepherd and learn to hear and recognize his voice. It is to follow and obey the shepherd's lead. It is to trust that the loving shepherd knows what is best for his flock and to surrender any worry, fear, or stress in exchange for trust and faith. 

As the old hymn says so well, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." I choose to lay my burdens at the foot of Jesus. I choose to wait for God to answer my questions in His own time. I choose to surrender my will to the King of kings and The Lord of lords, because I can trust Him. There's no better way to win the battle than to surrender.

"Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's." - 2 Chronicles 20:15