A Full Surrender

02/24/2007

“For the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk; it is living by God’s power.”
1 Corinthians 4:20 (NLT)

In war, surrender is not what we’re hoping for unless it comes from the other side. Most of our lives, we don’t want to be the white-flag raiser. We’re trained that way. Look at the game of “Uncle.” We don’t want to call out uncle, but as the arm is bent further and further up the back and the pain increases, there comes a time when we will cry out “Uncle!” But, let’s take a look at God’s “world,” where crying out “Jesus!” in our act of surrender takes on a whole new meaning. Surrender is what God asks of us to fully know Him, or to even get to know Him in the first place. It’s a time in our lives when we raise our bloodied white flag and say, “Yes!” It is a time when we choose to fully embrace the promises of God. To do this, we have to give up any right to ourselves, submit ourselves to a God we cannot see, and say yes to the gift of His Son who walked this earth over 2,000 years ago. This surrender opens the gates of Heaven to us for all of eternity! “He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of everything he will give us.” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NLT)

Most surrenders come in small increments in our daily walk with God, but there comes a time in the life of every believer when we face a “World War.” This involves everything we know, everything we love, everything we believe, and every bit of strength we have. We come to this war ready to fight, and fight we do, and do, and do, and do…until we run out of resources, we run out of ideas, we run out of strength, we run out of words and dreams and wishes and even prayers to pray, and we call out, “Uncle.” To say this is a good day would probably not be accurate, but to say it is a transforming day surely would be, because what God shows a believer on this day and in the days thereafter is His supernatural power on this earth through the Holy Spirit in our lives.

John the Baptist told people to turn from sin and turn to God. John said to believe in Jesus, the One who would come later. When Paul met some disciples, he updated them in their belief and they were then baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them. (Acts 19) We don’t want to get stuck in the repenting and the believing parts without realizing this receiving part! To receive all that we are being offered, we have to hand our entire lives over to God. We may say, “That’s too much for me. I just can’t go that far, I just can’t devote that much of myself right now, there are some things I just need to do first…” But in refusing, we may end up arriving Home having missed out on the most exciting life possible…the life that Paul lived as the power of the Holy Spirit flowed through him.

Paul’s battles were not over because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and we can’t fool ourselves into thinking ours will be either--but these battles will be fought on a new playing field where things are seen more clearly, and where there can be peace in the midst of any storm because our focus will be on Jesus Christ. Picture Jesus asleep in the boat, in total control, and not worrying--and then know by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can continually go to where He is and rest with Him.