Devotionals
“Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” Psalm 37:7 GWT
SURRENDER. It’s not typically a word that people like to hear, and certainly don’t want to do. We are taught to be strong, and powerful, and push forward, and never give up! We are taught to do whatever it takes to WIN! And surrendering is the exact opposite of “winning” in our culture. But with God, surrendering to Him actually GIVES US power, strength, and moves us closer to happiness and success in life. Why? Because when we surrender to God’s will for our life, putting to rest our own will, and focus on seeking what His will is for us in everything we do – we have already won. Because God delivers on his promises when we obey Him!
By surrendering, we TRUST that God knows what is best for us, and we believe in his plan for our lives above anything we can come up with on our own. Proverbs 3:6 NLT says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” What’s important in this verse is that He will reveal his plan for our lives if we SEEK HIS WILL. You can’t surrender your will to Him and then sit back and wait for God to lead you, because it doesn’t happen that way. You have to seek Him through prayer, studying His word, and building a relationship with Him. When you focus on doing THOSE things, God will start to lead you. And the more you do it, the more you will see His leading in your life, and the easier it will be to put your own will to rest.
In my own experience, my own will has always led me to failure. And failure is far worse than surrender in my book! I want to be a winner. I want to be successful in the eyes of God. I want to be happy and I want to bring happiness to others. I want to serve the Lord in whatever capacity he intends for me, and I want to be open to His leading. And the only reason I desire these things is because I have surrendered my will to Him and trust that he will give me the desires of my heart! And I think one way the Lord does this is by changing the desires of our heart to align with his will for our lives when we surrender to him.
I’ll admit – my desires and goals in life were far different before Christ found me. I had actually created a “Vision Board” – you know how those go. Where you paste images of everything you want for your life on it, and by looking at it every day, we will somehow magically obtain those things. I had pictures of being a famous singer, working in a studio with my husband, and winning Grammy’s; pictures of a big, beautiful house, a nice car, glamorous clothes, and beautiful vacation spots that I had hoped I’d get to visit someday. I realize now how lost I was in the things of this world – materialism, success in the eyes of man instead of God, chasing my own, selfish desires instead of chasing after God’s heart. Christ rescued me from that captivity and gave me new desires, desires that drive me to serve Him instead of run from Him – desires that drive me to share the truth instead of turn a blind eye to it.
Ultimately, we end up surrendering to something – we either surrender to the things of this world or we surrender to God– and when you surrender to the things of this world, you are doomed to failure. When we surrender to God, our eyes are opened to how lost we were and our true purpose is found.
Have you surrendered to God and His will for your life, but you worry or wonder if your will is aligned with His? Proverbs 19:21 ESV says, “Many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” God knows you, and he knows that we battle our own will even when we are surrendered to Him. But if you are walking with Him and truly strive to seek His will in all that you do, His purpose for you will stand! He will put new desires in your heart that align with his will, and nothing will stand in the way of living out God’s purpose for your life!
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