The Pricey Yes

I have been provoked by what it means to surrender to God and haven’t been able to shake the feeling off as I sense God calling me into this new territory. Like you, I have listened to countless sermons and sang hymns about surrender, and for a very long time, I believed I had nailed this surrender thing down, but God burst my bubbles when He exposed me to this concept of surrender. I realised that I love my comfortable life, and unlike the people of old, I unashamedly admit that I will be hesitant to let go of stuff if it comes to asking.

Going on this journey with Papa has recentred my scattered senses, as Lectio 365 fondly says. So, welcome on board the surrender train, and let’s explore some of the whys, whats and hows of surrender. I can’t promise that it will be an easy ride, but I can assure you that it will be worth your while.

To kick things off, I must warn you that a life of complete surrender to God is pricey, as it demands that we submit all of us to God’s authority so He can direct our actions and decisions. In any assignment or job role, you only get good at it if you fully commit to it and master its skills; this principle applies in the kingdom of God. In complete surrender, we go all out for God or nothing. It means that we can’t sit on the fence of comfort, but instead, we live in total abandonment to God.

Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labour. 2 Timothy 2:3-6 NLT

What does surrender look like?

In surrender, we align with God’s supreme purpose; that’s for His Kingdom to be established on earth. God sits on the throne of your life, and He orders your steps. Instead of waking up and allowing the world to dictate the outcome of your day, you allow God to influence your day with His presence. You lay your priorities in life down and take on whatever God has prescribed for you. It will mean that God’s voice will be louder than all other voices until all you ever hear in any given situation is His voice.

When we are under the rule of God, the answer is yes to whatever the command is. Yes, yes, yes! All it takes for us to be a people that please the Father is to respond with a resounding yes when He beckons. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself, is how Oswald Chambers defines total surrender in His book, ‘My Utmost for His Highest.

You will finally encounter all your vulnerabilities in this space of surrender because surrendered people attract the devil and his cohorts. In the Bible, a long time ago, the Spirit led a man into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days. For forty days, he battled with all the woes of life until finally, He overcame by the word of His testimony, which is the word of God. This man became our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, and because He overcame, we are confident that we can also overcome whatever comes our way.

Why Surrender?

The Bible says that you were bought at a price with blood of the Son of God, 1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT. God loved and chose you before the earth’s foundations, Ephesians 1:4 NLT. Before you were born, He knew you and appointed you to the nations, Jeremiah 1:5 NLT. The root of your very existence lies with the Father, and your life brings pleasure to Him, Psalms 147:11 NKJV.

God is bound by His word to bless you, but He can only do that if you are completely surrendered to Him, Hebrews 6:13 NIV. Abraham received a promise to be a father of many nations, but He only attained that when He showed a willingness to sacrifice the one child God had given Him, Genesis 22:16-17 NKJV. We bear the fruit of our labour if we put a measurable amount of effort into the planting season. Jesus said that we will bear much fruit if we are connected to the vine, John 15:5 NKJV.

God brings His fullness to His children who are completely surrendered to Him. He is a jealous God, and He doesn’t like to share His prized possession. Hence anything that competes for your attention should be brought in subjection to the authority of God. The Israelites learnt a lot about this during their 40 years of the wilderness journey. Only Joshua and Caleb made it into the promised land from the adult Israelites in that first generation because they were found worthy by God, Numbers 32:11-12 NKJV. You can experience this truthfulness and faithfulness of God if you are committed to Him. When we surrender, we leave the Lord no choice but to bless us.

What stands in the way of surrender?

We all enjoy our comfortable life. The world presents too many pleasures that are hard to ignore and dismiss. Everywhere you turn in our culture, you are given a false representation of what life truly is. Social media encourages us to apply filters to every post and image, so we are discouraged from showing the true depths of who we truly are to the world. This people-pleasing spirit does nothing but steal our identity, leaving us with a self we are not grateful for or a self we do not value. Some women will not step a foot outside their home unless they have applied their regular cosmetics; I know I have fallen victim to this.

Another thing that stands in our way is the busyness of life. We are too busy trying to make it in life that we forget that it is in the hands of the Father to give and take. If we can invite the Father into our daily routines, He promises to equip us with all the heaven resources to enjoy the life of abundance.

Another surrender blockage is the multiple voices speaking into our lives. When people constantly surround us, and all we hear about every situation is what people have to say, we starve ourselves of God, and whatever God has to say gets jumbled up amidst the other voices. Pay attention to the voices influencing your life and make sure they speak God’s truth into your life.

Another challenge with surrender is that God doesn’t usually ask for simple things. He usually goes all the way, asking Abraham to sacrifice his only child, asking Jonah to preach to a very vile city, Nineveh, and sending Moses to a hard-hearted Pharoah. Let me bring it closer home, like asking you to submit to a mean superior, like asking you to love that person who almost destroyed you or worst still, in a world where self comes first, God asks you to give to others from the little you have. Yes, it’s something like that.

How do we get there?

Through this, one thing that echoes is that surrender doesn’t come easy. You will need divine empowerment to attain it. You start by submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who is the best friend you can ever have. To get a genuine bond with the Holy Spirit, you need to allow Him to infiltrate your mind with God’s truths. Start questioning the roots of your thoughts so that the Holy Spirit can refine and fine-tune them.

The closer you get to the Holy Spirit, the more your spiritual senses enlightens and before you know it, obeying and submitting to God’s leading becomes second nature. Ultimately, we can only genuinely submit to people we know and trust, and that’s why the Father seeks a relationship with us above all else.

A couple of pointers for you:

• Empowered by the Holy Spirit, you can glean God’s truths through His word and make them your own – John 8:32 NIV
• Intentional about knowing God more and more every day so you can easily recognise His voice and respond accordingly – John 10:27-28 ESV
• Aligning your decisions and thought processes with the Word of God – Romans 12:2 NIV
• Daily communing with the Father – Psalm 1:2 NKJV
• Pray always – 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV

Treasures in surrender!

There are blessings at the end of this! In His presence flows rivers of living waters. His peace, love, and goodness flow out of His presence! So, staying connected to Him will give you unrestricted access to His resources purposed for you. When you completely surrender to God, God is bound by His word to meet all your needs according to His riches in glorious Jesus, Philippians 4:19 NLT. Before you say you don’t have a need, pause for a minute, and think about the fundamental essentials of life. Most of the chaos in the world is not because of empty pockets, but much of the turmoil in the world is attributable to a lack of peace, love, joy, and hope. Rightly so, of our own strength and resources, we cannot solve the issues of this world, only God has the power to accomplish that. Out of the Father, emanate these virtues:

• Love burst open all limitations – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV
• Joy flows like a river – Psalms 46:4 ESV
• Peace exceeds all understanding – Philippians 4:7 NKJV
• Patience endures all things – James 1:12 NLT
• Kindness gives incessantly – Ephesians 4:32 NIV
• Goodness breaks all barriers – Galatians 6:10 NLT
• Faithfulness is renewed every morning – Lamentations 3:23 NKJV

In essence, a life hidden in the Father will yield exceedingly and abundantly results. The Bible say, “delight yourself in the Lord, And He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart, Psalms 37:4 NKJV.

How did the Bible people respond to the call?

Several individuals in the Bible responded with a yes and later bore the fruit and blessings of a surrendered life. A few have been detailed here:

• Moses – herder of father in-law’s sheep. God commissioned him from a burning bush. He had his insecurities, and the task was gigantic, so it took a lot of convincing. He brought Israelites out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God. God’s children were finally free after over four hundred years of slavery.
• Joshua – Moses’s understudy, one of the good spies. God asked Him to take His children to the promised land after Moses died. He responded in faith and trust. He led the people through the river Jordan and brought down Jericho’s walls and finally, the Israelites took the promised land.
• Gideon – found threshing wheat in a cave as he was hiding from the enemy, the Midianites. An angel appeared to and called him a mighty man of valour. He broke down his father’s Asherah poles. He led three hundred men to battle with the people who terrified him earlier. The Midianite tyranny was overthrown, and the Israelites enjoyed peace for forty years during the time of Gideon, Judges 8:28 NLT.
• Elisha – ploughing with twelve pairs of oxen. Elijah threw his mantle over him. Elisha burned the plough and followed Elijah. When Elijah was taken, Elisha received a double portion of his anointing. Elisha was known to have ridiculous faith that released incredible miracles such as, resurrecting the Shunamite woman’s son, healing Naaman’s leprosy and finally, the resurrection of a dead man when his bones touched Elisha’s bones, 2 Kings 13:21.
• Daniel – was exiled to Babylon. He set himself apart to obey only God. He had a costly encounter with lions. He earned the role of a dream interpreter. He influenced governors in a foreign land.
• Disciples – ordinary fishermen and tax collectors! They followed Jesus and paid the price. Their obedience birthed the church.
• Paul – persecutor of Jesus’ followers. Jesus met him and commissioned him on the road to Damascus. He got into the business of God and bridged the gap between gentiles and the Saviour. Now we are all in!

Whom shall I send, and who will go?

Is the Lord calling you into a closer relationship with Him? What will it take for you to entirely give God your yes and let Him take the driver’s seat of your life journey? Can you imagine the impact of your yes, and will you let heaven rejoice over your yeses? God is calling you; how will you respond?

Prayer

Father, I surrender the throne of my life to you because you are the one who truly matters in my life. Please lead me into the path of righteousness you have set for me. Give me the strength to truly surrender, so I can finally encounter the God of all flesh, from whom all blessings flow. Amen

May you be filled with the Fullness of God and the Power of His Love!