The Great Surrender
5 ” Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6
The will of God is not a mystery as some would have you believe. God is not far away on vacation, nor is His blind eye turned to us. Rather the very opposite! God is with us, He is all around us, He is in your heart and from time to time God makes His will known whether we want to hear it or not. The Bible is filled with dysfunctional people who God has saved but their walk to salvation did not truly start until they handed all their troubles and surrendered it to God. I call this, “The Great Surrender”, because in every facet of your life God is present and has a plan for you that if you listen close enough you can hear Him guiding you step by step. It’s not an easy thing to give over all facets of your life to God, it’s not a simple thing to trust in what we cannot see, in fact for most people this great surrendering is like hitting the bottom rung on the latter of life, you have only one way to go and that is up. In this desperation people often times experience a panic, a depression, and go through a crisis that marks their journey and often times results in a complete self confession where everything is revealed, where all that we thought we knew and believed was wrong. This confession generally follows a release and an out pouring of emotion that allows God to show you things you would otherwise not able to see. I know this because I went through this exact surrendering process. My “Great Surrender”, came in a time when I was emotionally led astray by the one person whom I had given everything up for and that was my ex-wife. It came to me the realization that I had put all my hopes and dreams into a person who didn’t or could not return this out pour of love and in the process I had inadvertently alienated myself from those in my life who loved me the most. I did so because I want to make my marriage work and I wanted to be a father to my only child who I loved with all my heart and soul; and who I still do. I knew if I did not move away from my parents and family I would never see my daughter and she would never know who I was. In that moment I opened my heart and cried out to God, I begged for relief or a reprieve something to end this pain and suffering that I felt in my heart and that is when I heard God speak to me. The most interesting thing is that it wasn’t like I had never prayed before, nor was it that I had never heard God before, but this time I heard His voice so loudly that it shook me to my core and in that experience I instantly saw my error, my failings, misconceptions, and what shook me the most is how wrong I was in everything I had done for my sins sat in the seat next to me in the truck as I drove all I owned from Missouri to California in the summer of 1995.
Walking With God
17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17
To walk with God is the most honest walk you will ever have for as long as you live. From the moment you accept God into your life you begin the process that will lead you to, “The Great Surrender”. Each step is like a small act of trust you hand over to God and each time a hardship happens your heart is moved closer to the solution. As your conversation with God increases your mind and belief system is changed to see what before was invisible and a world of possibilities comes into view. God’s will slowly becomes your only real concern as your life is transformed. It is this which I call, “Becoming New”, as the actions you would have taken before are made straight and are different from the actions you take now. God is the constant which moves your heart as life experiences leave questions that bring you back to God time after time. Becoming new in Christ is a belief which is the absolute power a person can actually see grow incrementally over time. In my own life experience I have seen many years where Satan challenged my ever decision and God was always standing right beside me helping me, guiding me, and consoling me. There were many years I was left alone with my own thoughts and time after time God was talking to me through my pain and heartache the world seemed to always lay at my front door step. When I say this, it sounds crazy, but God has never let me down and He is the only constant in my life. Though I am not perfect I have the confidence to know that God is there helping me through the troubled times I face constantly molding me into a better version of me! God wants to do this for every human being on earth both past and present. For He is the only constant in the universe.
Amen
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Special Note
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As we head towards the season of Thanksgiving it is important to take note of all that we have to be thankful for. Like the disciples who learned all things are possible through the love and compassion of God so to can we the many sons and daughters of Christ make miracles happen for those who are in need and thus in our own way feed the multitude. I urge you to support inner city children through the gift of education by clicking the following link.