How hard can it be? No, seriously… how hard can it possibly be, to give your heart, your desires, your dreams, your plans for the future—your LIFE—just everything, to Christ? You want the answer? There is no ‘one’ answer… it varies for each different person—while it may be easy and a joy for you to give everything over to God, it may be extremely hard and ‘un-joyful’ for the person next to you, to do the same…they might not want to either.
I have several friends who I’d easily call “stubborn, stuck and on their own”. ‘Stubborn’ because they don’t listen to God, even though God is clearly talking to them (sometimes they don’t know how to determine if it’s God or not),’stuck’ when they do hear God’s voice clearly and see the things He is doing and they know for sure it is Him, but don’t change a thing, and ‘on their own’ because they feel that they want to rule and they want things to happen either their way or no way… sometimes they feel that God just created them to use them for His own good, and then later forget about them and so on.
I think this mind frame is common with many people in today’s society. They don’t know where to start, don’t know what to do; they just need some help and guidance—encouragement does a great deal too! I know that that is where I, myself, have gone wrong. When it comes to my friends I give them help and ‘guidance’, telling them right from wrong, etc… I seem to dish out all this “do this and that and you’ll be going a bit better—oh and don’t do that, that’s a no-go,” when most times all they needed to start with was a “I’m praying for you and just remember that God loves you and cares for you and there are a many other people who do too.”
You see the difference? In the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 says, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.” God died for us, to save us from the wrongs we had done—He died so that we may live on high with Him one day, for eternity, if that is what we choose. And He doesn’t want us to suffer wrath (that’s why He died for us). That alone is very encouraging and exciting, however, there are still a great many people who don’t care if they go to hell for eternity, or go to heaven for the same amount of time. Look at the verse again…we are to encourage and build one another up, not pull them down! People may say, “What’s the use? What does it matter? Surely God wouldn’t want me in heaven anyway!”
My answer to all that is that it matters a lot and sure God wants you in heaven! He’s just waiting eagerly for the day you decide to make a true and honest decision, not just some light “momentary” decision, for Him. I’ll illustrate what can be a “surface commitment” or that “momentary decision,” shortly. God created each one of us in His own image and He wanted to live in harmony with us, in peace…then, when sin came into the world, all went corrupt. But, that doesn’t scare God; He still loves us so very much, that He sent His own Son, Jesus, to this dark world, to die on the cross for us, to free us from bondage. Now that doesn’t mean “I can do what I please now”…it means that God has a huge load of mercy and love, waiting for us, each time we confess a wrong we have done. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” I’d also like to add that before you were even born, Christ did this. Talk about love—it’s a true gift! No one loves you and you love no one as much as God does, even if you think you do. If you are a parent and you have a child and they do something wrong…don’t you still love them? Yes, you love them and are willing to forgive them yet again. This is like God…we’re all Children of God, and He’s willing to forgive us and love us too! He wants us to be comfortable with trusting in Him and in knowing that His mercy runs forever…then maybe we can make the true decision to submit ourselves to Him only.
Here’s my ‘illustration’ now, about that “momentary decision, come surface commitment”…. I’ve heard of many people, like this one girl whom we shall name Rachel, who recently told her friend, who we will call Jessica, “I just gave my whole life to Christ. I now know now that ‘such and such a thing’ is going to happen. God was just testing me, through that other hard stuff I went through, until now that I finally gave my heart to Him.” Jessica replied in a soft voice, “That’s great, that you gave your life to Christ,” but seemed sceptical…she then went on to ask, “Did you truly give everything though? And what if ‘such and such a thing’ doesn’t happen? Will you turn away from God again and go back to how you were before?” Rachel’s reply saddened Jessica. She said, “Yeah, I probably will! Because then I’ll know that God really isn’t there, but for now I have a bit of hope! Just you wait and see. You’ll finally realize that I’m right.” Well, days went on, nothing happened how Rachel was planning, she turned back to her old ways and Jessica started praying more than ever for God to do something in her friend’s life. It will take time, but Jessica firmly believes that God will ‘truly’ and ‘honestly’ touch her friend’s life and Rachel will change. Talk about faith.
There may arise questions…why do these things happen? There are many reasons why this so often happens with people today. There possibly is no “full” surrender—it goes half way, to where the person feels most comfortable, then the person wants things to go his way and 100% of trust is not put into God, the only One who has the best ways, the best plans for life.
To surrender is a powerful thing. You can use surrender, either for good, or bad. Surrender to God is the best way, don’t ‘surrender’ to Satan, the enemy and his evil ways. Rather, if you have heartaches, problems, worries, temptations and everything else, just give it to the one who can sustain you and give you peace—Jesus! I believe that things go wrong, when you try to deal with them yourself and you do everything your way. Also, when you don’t have a true relationship with God. Yeah, you might pray, go to church each week and read your Bible, but that doesn’t mean you have a relationship with God—yes, it can sometimes mean that, but if you’re doing everything for the wrong reasons, then no. Maybe you just do those things because your Mom and Dad always did; maybe you feel forced…maybe to you it’s considered a “tradition” and just what we as “Christians” need to do. I don’t know what it is, but this is a bad attitude to have…that is no real relationship with the God who created you…that’s just what you think, in your mind. Just like in having a relationship with a friend, in order to get to know them well, you spend time with them, talking to them, listening to them, and doing things with them, you need to talk and listen to God and study the Bible and make it mean something to you (even going to church and such…make it meaningful! There are many ways you can do this). Then, once you’re doing these things, you will find the peace and joy that only God can bring. Surrender your ways and what you alone want and Christ can work in your life and make you happy and contented in anything that happens—because you will have a good relationship with Him and trust He knows what’s best.
God wants you to be happy. God loves you and cares about you more than you will ever understand or fathom. He doesn’t do things to ‘harm’ you or people around you…He does these things, because it’s all part of His perfect plan for you and in the end things work out, like in Romans 8:28 it says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” If you have a hard time accepting this—pray! Pray to God and ask Him to help you and give you the peace and comfort and understanding that you need. A short prayer you could pray, could go something like, “Dear Jesus, I know that your ways are better than mine. Even though this is hard for me and the people around me and I don’t understand why it’s happening, we know that ‘all things work for the good in the end,’ that’s why I am going to trust you with everything I have, even though it may be really hard. Please help me to be able to trust in You fully. Amen.”
Now it’s my turn and I pray that everyone who reads this (as well as for myself) will learn how to truly surrender everything to God and consult with Him, for He knows what is best and at what time. Don’t give up, just because something doesn’t go your way, look to Jesus and wait on Him. It’s a sweet gift and you’ll find pleasure in doing what He wants, while waiting for His perfect timing for something to happen. He has a plan for you and grace that flows freely, if you will but take that gift.
“Never give in…never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force…never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” –Winston Churchill
In Christ our Redeemer,
Taryn
Taryn