Oh how we love our comfort zones! Our human nature is to establish ourselves in all manner of places and things, our insurance policies for a comfortable life. Our problems start when we put our trust in them, instead of God. God’s perfect plan for each of us is to bring us to the place of trusting Him with every area of our lives. In His loving kindness and long suffering, our Heavenly Father teaches us His ways. Abandoning our trust in men and possessions, full surrender is His desire for us to trust and rest in Him. Scripture warns if we trust in “the arm of flesh”, it will surely fail us, but He, the Lord, never fails. Our growth and maturity in God can only come from surrendering our self life.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus wrestled with His will not to die and suffer the agony of His forthcoming crucifixion, but He sacrificed His will and chose His Father’s. Luke 22:42-43, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.”
Many believe Jesus did not have a will of His own, but this passage demonstrates that He did, but He chose to surrender it to His Father’s. All His earthly life, all through His upbringing in the family home, His apprenticeship in the Carpenter’s shop, as the Son of man He was learning obedience by yielding to His Father in all of life’s circumstances. Hebrews 5:8 “Though he were a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered”, (allowed/yielded to).
Clearly then, it is not a sin not to want the will of God, but it becomes a sin when I refuse to choose it. Jesus submitted His will to His Father’s in Gethsemane, and chose the way of the Cross. It was His earthly destiny. When we surrender our will to the Lord in our daily circumstances, He comes alongside of our choice and strengthens us and enables us, by His Holy Spirit, to do His will. He does the “willing in the willing” and the “doing in the doing”…..it is all of God, all I have to do is surrender and choose, then the glorious life of God’s Son in me, fulfills the Father’s will. It is then I discover the joy of surrender and I find myself enjoying the will of God in me. I cannot do the will of God miserably. God’s will is accompanied by His peace and joy…not necessarily in my circumstances, although it can be, but in my glorious fellowship with Him. When I die to self, the resurrected Christ comes forth in me and I discover the delight in doing His will. Christ in me, the hope of glory. Praise God!
I can live in the bondage of “works” trying to be obedient, but that is not the issue. Jesus humbled Himself and BECAME obedient. He showed us the way and made the way. As I humble myself, I become obedient. I surrender and He does all the work in me and through me…all by the power of Another life, His glorious life coming forth through me to extend His glorious kingdom to the world.
Let us encourage ourselves in God, the only safe insurance company in this earth – “Father, Son and Holy Ghost Unlimited! Our Heavenly Father calls us to step out of our comfort zones into the unknown of God. This is our place of safety and He will honour our abandonment and surrender to Him. Our times and seasons are in God’s hands. Every need we have is met in Jesus. The salvation He purchased for us is an “all inclusive package”, a full salvation that we should know no lack. We have a divine destiny to fulfill here on earth, we were born for such a time as this!
Child of the Living God, Awake from your slumber! “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee,” Isaiah 60:1 This day, take a step forward into your destiny and discover the truth of His word and the assurance that “underneath are the everlasting arms.”
