Surrendering to God

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;

he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22

 Surrender:  “to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand; to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another; to give (oneself) over to something (as an influence)” 
– Merriam-Webster Dictionary


I feel for the most part people are built to either easily give things over to God, or they hold them so tightly in their hands they have white knuckles!  And of course, there are always those that pick and choose to give over or hold tight...but usually it is a personality thing.  I am for the most part a control loving kind of gal!!! I like order, tidiness, don't mix the play-doh colors, and predictability if at all possible (unless of course I decide to change things, that is different :)  It has taken many years for me to be able to give things over to the Lord, and especially things that I revere as important.  It's easy to give little things over to Him...but way harder to give over those we might call the big kahunas! You know, things like getting that job, buying a house and where, having kids and when or how many, and all those others we feel we have a better handle on than... Ummm God! And let me just say for the record, that is probably one of the biggest jokes of all time.  We don't know what is often best for our lives...we often can't even make healthy choices on what to eat for lunch for Pete's sake!!! So why is it so hard for us to give it up, to surrender, to lay it down at the Cross, to let go and let God? 

Well, first let me comment...none of us are alone!!! We all do this, not wanting to give up control over our lives that is.  So, don't feel like you are the only one who struggles with this, it's a biggie!! We often struggle because we simply don't completely trust God has it taken care of...pretty funny since you know, He made the heaven and earth, is beginning and end, and knows all, is everywhere, and ultimately could control everything but chose to give you and I free will! Go ahead and laugh, it is pretty ridiculous when you think about it really.  And my life is a living testimony of how God can bend you, break you, glue you back together, break you, glue, break, glue, break...you get the point! Yeah, that's me and my life in a nutshell, and after all that bend, break, glue routine I have finally figured out to just give it over and skip all the bend, break, glue stuff because that quite frankly is way too painful!!!  Trust me, skip it friends!!! Pray about things, give it over to Him, and then trust whatever happens is going to work out best if it is in God's will.  Plus, it takes a little of the burden off of us having to deal with the consequences since if we are in God's will it comes with benefits :) God does have the ability to show favor over our lives, our finances, our jobs, our everything!  Now that is what I call some nice benefits, but you have to trust and surrender.  

So, think it over...wrestle with it if you must.  But I will tell you with some serious experience under my belt, trust God even if you don't understand.  Find peace when life hands you disappointments, as He has a plan...it just looks different than yours because of your prospective.  That disappointment could possibly become your greatest gift in the end once your prospective becomes aligned with that of Gods will.  Surrender, yield to the power, give up completely, give over yourself...and it won't come naturally, but with a little practice and learning the hard way a few times...you will come to the place where you finally get it, and oh how sweet it is.  Trust me, I'm living it every day :)