Surrender...

So all day Monday the Lord just kept repeating the word Surrender over and over in my head.  Nothing came along with it.  Just that word.  I figured there was something the Lord planned on showing me, so be on the look out.  But it wasn't going to come in a way that I was used to hearing from the Lord.  I looked up the definition and realized it has a very negative connotation to it. To give up into the power of another.  To give oneself over to something.  Who likes giving up control?   Later on that evening the Lord brought back to remembrance a song Roger and I used to sing that we've not sung in a while.  The words simply say the following:

Where You go I go

What You say I say, God

What You pray I pray

I decided to look up the song to see why the Lord brought this back to remembrance.  The first line of the verse was the answer I was looking for. It says, "How can I expect to walk without You.  When every move that Jesus made was in Surrender."  Every move that Jesus made was in Surrender.  So how have I gone through my life not realizing that surrendering is an every second of every day part of this Christian life.  Ok God, you've got my attention.  What else?

I went to bed and at about 3 am the Lord just started downloading examples of surrender in my life.  I'm going to share them with you exactly how He showed them to me.

1. I've been a germaphobe most of my adult life.  But about a year ago because of circumstances in my life my germaphobic tendancies became hightened.  The more out of control I felt the more I felt a need to clean, disinfect and organize.  I didn't like it.  I said Lord, for who I am and who you have called me to be for the kingdom these germaphobic tendancies have got to go.  I was willing to do whatever it took to release this over to the Lord.  Shortly after the Lord brought a lady into my life who needed help.  She, like me, due to situations in her life had allowed her home to get out of control.  She had only let 1 other person in to see it.  I offered to come over regularly and help her through the process of physically and emotionally letting go.  I decided to surrender and allow God to work through me in the life of this individual.  Because of that the Lord has blessed me with opportunities to love on some that might be deemed unloveable.  They may not smell good.  They may not be the cleanest.  But because I surrendered this behavior to God and seized His opportunity to be released from it, I don't think about anything else but hugging them, loving them and being a representation of Christ to them.

*Surrender Your Self Imposed Limitations*

2. Last week I was sick, tired and the enemy just said this is the ideal time to hit her with  (reality). lol!! I wasn't reading, praying of seeking the Lord like I should, so I just hung out in the valley.  By Saturday things started looking up or I should say I started looking up.  On Sunday my Pastor asked me to give a word on the prayer line Tuesday evening.  Here's the deal I could have said no because I didn't feel spiritual enough because of the week i just had.  But all last week the Lord kept popping up the scripture Trust in the Lord with all thy heart.  Lean not on your own understanding.  Trust and Surrender go hand in hand.  I know my Pastor asked me but who was really the one asking.  God presented me with the opportunity and I saw Him in that moment, not my Pastor.  I looked at him and said Ok, Ok.  God doesn't see what I see.  He doesn't require me to know everything.  He doesn't require that I feel spiritually adequate to do something for Him.  He just wants me to Surrender and to depend on Him.

You don't have to know all the answers.  The answers you need will be there when you need them and the answers that are not given would either hinder you if you had them or scare you because you are not at the appropriate level to receive them.  If the Lord presents you with an opportunity, know that you are already equipped for the task whether you feel it of not.

*Surrender any beliefs that you need to have all the answers before God can use you*

3. Florida, Oh Florida.  You know the story.  If not read my past blogs and you'll hear all about it.  The Lord just reminded me about our 2011 journey and finally being at a place where we were believing God for our best.  Our move to FL was going to be the start of great things. But instead we ended up back in NYC.  Now you have to understand all my life I swore to leave NYC and never move back.  I have never been a fan of The City.  So it was a devastating blow to believe for my best and be hit with what I felt was my worst.  But I had a' choice to make.  I could have gone with the woe is me, angry at the world, everyone does me wrong approach.  Or the I'm going to create my own opportunity come hell of high water and completely take God out of the equation method.  Because I've struggled with both many many times in my life.  But instead I chose to Surrender.  I told God that I wanted to choose joy in this place.  I know FL is for some point in my life.  But it's not my right now.  But this is and I trust you and receive all that you want to do and have for me here.  And ya'll the stuff He's been doing and showing and growing and maturing and stretching me in has all been so so so worth it.

*Surrender your desire to have God's will for your life look the way you think it should look*

4. The last one concerns what I mentioned a ways up.  God woke me up with the 1st example of these downloads at 3am.  At first I said, "I'll remember it when I wake up.  Then I said, "No, I've been down this road too many times to not know better."  I got up, grabbed my phone and started typing.  I wrote down the first example, laid back down and about 15 min later the next example came.  I got up and did the same.  About 15 min later the same thing happened and I responded the same way.  I got my phone and typed. I didn't argue.  I was tired.  But why would I dare limit what God wants to say to me or through me to my time frame.

*Surrender your need for comfortable obedience.*

I'm excited about living a life of surrender.  I'm excited that God is introducing me to the me He desires for me to be.  The me that He see's.  Allow Him to do the same for you.

Surrender...
If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your 
life go, you will save it. Luke 17:33 NLT