As a church staff, we are on a discipleship journey called Rooted that has led me to some very intentional thinking about my walk with Jesus. I am thankful that God can give us fresh revelations about his character and how it plays into our lives as His children.
In church, we hear the word “surrender” on a regular basis. We desire to live lives of surrender to the care and will of God, letting that shape the foundations of who we are. As I have been thinking through the concept of surrender, I have come to realize a few things about my own life, and how I can approach the idea of being surrendered to Christ.
It is far too easy to let my motivation for surrender be, “what do I get out of this?” Of course there is nothing wrong with the desire to have our sins washed clean or see relationships restored as a result of our surrendered life. These gifts can all come as a result of being surrendered to Christ, and is a gift that we are supposed to receive with open arms. The trouble can be when we allow our situations to dictate whether or not we will be surrendered to God. I know that my tendency can be to live with full abandonment to Christ in the midst of life being difficult. At the same time, when things seem “ok” it can be very easy for me to begin to walk in my own strength and ability. This seems to be when the enemy likes to attack, when our guard is let down.
I have a love/hate relationship with the fact that God gives us the ability to make choices for ourselves. I love that he desires relationship with His children, celebrating when we make the decision to turn to Him; but there are definitely times when I perpetually make the wrong choice, and wish for those moments that I didn’t have the ability to choose for myself. God allows us to walk freely, and yet he offers to walk by our side. Far too often, we end up trying to solve problems on our own accord, and eventually fall on our face—just in time for us to surrender our lives back over to his care and guidance.
As I continue to move forward in my journey with Christ, I am continually learning how to be fully surrendered to Him at all times. When I allow my circumstances to dictate when I choose to do so, my act of surrender comes back to the mindset of “what can I get out of this?"
I am so grateful that we serve a God who is filled with love and grace, and will continually take us back into his arms when we surrender to Him. I am also grateful that we are not using a “3 strikes” rule, and that His grace will be new for us every day. I continue to pray that God will mold us into disciples, seeking to always be pointing our own hearts, and the hearts of others towards Him.
Ryan
rpickrel@b4church.org
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