Surrendering
By Erik Farstad
March 26, 1998
"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:4
My roommate gave me the motivation to share today’s topic on surrendering. Thanks Scott! The basic concept here is that the more we surrender to the Lord the more in control we are. Let me explain.
When I take control, or rather think I’m in control of my life, I am easily stressed. The pressures of thinking I have to solve, come up with or figure out life’s problems on my own will inevitably cause a stress breakdown. God did not create us to be the carriers of life’s load. That’s why God sent Jesus. When Jesus was hanging, dying, on the cross, he was doing so for all the sins and stresses of the world. Past, present and future, Jesus died to carry your load. Yes, carry the load of your troubles on His shoulders. So turn to Him!
The more frazzled or stressed I am is directly proportionate to the degree to which I try to handle things on my own. When I pray to the Lord for wisdom and guidance in life, that prayer will not go unanswered. This is why when you surrender your life to the Lord, you feel more control in your life. It’s not you controlling you, but the Lord controlling you. But it begins with your surrendering.
So what does this surrendering entail and how does it really work? Well, I’ll do my best to try and describe what many call "living by the spirit." First of all the idea of surrendering your life over to anyone is scary in this day and age. Unless you already know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, it may be hard to understand this. I Corinthians 2:14 says, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." Herein lies the beauty, the gift of salvation brings this discernment. First you receive a ticket for eternity in Heaven. Then you get direct access to God and His ideas for your life, through the leading of the Holy Spirit. I could go on and on with the beauties of Christ, but it has to starts with you surrendering! And you won’t even begin to understand without the Spirit of God.
OK. So if you surrender your life over to Christ will you never be troubled again? No. But what you do have is the ability to turn to an all knowing, loving God for help. With Christ you can persevere through the difficult times, gaining the maturity and knowledge that alone would be unachievable. Alone you have, well nobody. Yes, you have friends and family, but do they have the knowledge of the past, present and future of your life? To me the choice is simple; I could choose my own path which will lead to Hell or choose Christ to lay down my path before me which will eventually lead to Heavens Gate! What path do you want to be on?
If you want more control of your life, than give it over to the controller of life Jesus Christ.
Salvation Prayer: Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner. I want Jesus Christ in my life to make me pure and holy. I accept Him now as my personal lord and savior. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
In Him, "E"