The world has a saying: Talk is cheap! We would all probably agree it is easy to say things, but do our lives measure up to our talk? It is easy to declare in a Gathering what I believe, but if I do not live out the revelation in my circumstances, I do not have it because I refuse to give up the right to myself. Jesus surrendered all His rights when He left Heaven and came to earth to fulfil His Father’s will: the salvation of mankind. Humility surrenders its rights, a hallmark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
In the circumstances of life is where I prove God. Hosea 2:14-15 reminds us that the Lord can engineer circumstances to allure us in to a wilderness experience and cause us to sing there! If I do not obstruct the Lord’s work of patience in my life, He will bring me to another level of maturity as I allow “patience to have her perfect work” James 1:4.
When I surrender control of my life to the Lord, I am like a man in a chauffeur driven car. He takes me in to places I have never been and teaches me to sing there, where I never could before. But if I insist on grabbing the “steering wheel” and take back control, problems arise as I react in my fleshly nature. Here is where I remove Jesus from His pre-eminence in my life. I am not here to put others right, I am here to be in right standing before the Lord. I may not understand, I may be misunderstood, but I am here to bow before Him who knows all things. God’s peace lies in surrender. My grey sky appears blue in His presence.
John 7:17 “If any man will do his will, he shall know….”. Therefore, knowledge of God comes through obedience. Trials and tribulations are an important part of God’s plan to bring us to maturity. What delight a new born baby brings to a family! But what a sadness if the child never matured and stayed in its infant state. When we are born-again we have a destiny as sons and daughters of the living God to bring us to maturity in Christ, Ephesians 4:13 declares it, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
A couple resided in a private road near a local beauty spot with limited parking. Tourists on a day trip would often park in the road, unable to find space elsewhere. One such day, the couple decided to put a notice on the offending car, informing the owners that the road was private and not for public parking. Before they carried out their intention, the Lord spoke to the wife and said very clearly, “Don’t spoil their day!” The Lord required them to operate in His grace on this occasion. They recognised it was a divine appointment. God required something of them – a surrendered will. They passed the test and discovered their reward: another measure of the Lord’s peace and joy.
Colossians 3:3 declares “For you are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” God’s word declares “I am dead in Christ” from His perspective. My problem arises when I “come alive” again in my flesh and react to something, instead of responding in my new nature of Christ. Psalm 91 “He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” This is my sanctuary and place of safety, but it needs to become my dwelling place, not just a place I move in and out of, or even rarely visit! Verses 9-10 of this Psalm declare that when I make this my habitation, no evil will befall me. This does not mean that adverse circumstances will never come, but it does mean I will view them through God’s eyes and see them as the trial of my faith, which He will enable me to walk through with Him. The presence of the Lord changes me and enables me to walk any road, with the spring of faith in Him, in my steps.
Meditate on the words of the following song (Beulah Ratcliffe):
Learning to let you lead
Putting all trust in You,
Deeper in to Your arms, surrounded by You.
The things that I held so tight
Made my security,
Give me the strength I need to simply let go.
I want to be out of my depths in Your love,
Feeling Your arms so strong around me,
Out of my depths in Your love,
Out of my depths in You.
There are many things we hold on to in life that the Lord requires us to let go of. For each one of us, it is something different. But the Lord simply says, “Let it go!” As we surrender our will, the strongholds in our life lose their controlling grip and we can rest in the comfort of our divine chauffeur driven car again.
