Surrender

Commit your future to the Lord. Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf. Psalm 37:5

Are you like me and think you need complete control over every aspect of your life and all of the decisions you make? Is stepping out in faith as difficult for you as it is for me without first having all the answers? When God asks you to do something, how do you answer? Is it with a big "YES! Send me, I’ll do it; I’m all in, anything for you, God", or is it a big fat "No thanks, not today, not for me, not gonna do it"?

Letting go of control to step out in faith is not easy. For me there’s a boat load of scary scenarios of possible ugly outcomes I don’t want to face or deal with. Such as failure, falling flat on my face, looking stupid, it’ll be too hard, it’ll take too long, I won’t be good at it, I don’t know how to (do it) or where to start. I think I work harder at finding excuses not to do it than just getting on with it. Anyone else?

God doesn’t call us to easy, does he? He calls on us to surrender our will to his. He wants us to leave our comfort zone and follow his plan, purpose, and path for our lives. He wants our obedience without knowing the big picture, the end result, or all the steps we need to take to get us there. What he wants is our obedience and the desire to trust him—to lean on him and let go of our perceived control. Why do you suppose that is?

When we can get out of our heads, let go of our need to control every single result, and let God lead the way, we are saying, "God, I trust you and your plan more than I trust myself". By taking this step of faith, we are freed from having to figure out what to do next and are able to fulfill what God is asking of us. What happens when we do this? Lives are altered—the lives of others as well as our own. When we obey, our relationship with God is strengthened, it paves the way for our purpose, and provides blessings beyond our wildest expectations, all of which inspires us to act immediately when God speaks.

Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Luke 11:28

I personally am attempting to practice "Radical Obedience," which is doing what God requests when he asks, regardless of how it may appear or how I may feel about it. In reality, I'm attempting to obey before a question even occurs to me! Simple, sure; easy, not really. But I’m giving it a go!

Obedience also shows God how much we love him and his people.

And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 2 John 6

In Romans Paul refers to ‘‘the obedience of faith’’, (Romans 1:5-6), our obedience comes through faith in the finished works of Jesus. Realizing he died for us and that we should live in obedience to him and for him. Making every effort to do what he asks when he asks us to. Radical Obedience Unconcerned with what other people think, say, do, or don't do. Unconcerned with how we look. Not worrying about the outcome. Trusting that we are planting seeds and that God will come along or send someone else to water, nurture and harvest them. All he asks is that we do our part; the rest is really up to him.

Don’t overthink your part; don’t think your part is too small or too big. Enjoy the journey he has you on while doing your best to hear and obey his commands and living up to your highest potential.

Lord, here I stand, fully surrendered, willing to radically obey you; use me. AMEN!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8