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Let Go and Let God

Surrender by definition is both a verb and a noun, it is an action and a thing…It is something we must choose to both “do” and “be”. The legal definition for both the verb and noun refer to “giving up rights” to something, especially a lease, “before it has expired”. When we surrender our life to Christ, we give-up (give away) all rights and responsibility for it. At that moment it is no longer our life, it now belongs to Him (1 Cor.  6:20). We must let it go and not pick it back up, or even glance back as we walk away. When we truly surrender we have no regrets or worries, never thinking or worrying about “what if”.

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. – Galatians 2:20 (AMP)

Many of us struggle with letting things go or taking on too many responsibilities, but what we do not realize is that our real problem is we do not trust the Lord or believe He will work it out for our good. Trust must come before surrender. We cannot surrender to Him without first trusting Him, believing He will take care of us no matter what may come in our life. We no longer need to worry about a backup plan if we are surrendered to the Lord. As long as we obey His instruction and do our part, the results are His responsibility.

We must learn to “Let go and let God.” This does not take away our responsibility to obey Him. What it does is take away is our responsibility to do anything He has not told us to do and for the outcome of what happens. As long as we do our best in the responsibilities He has delegated (given) to us, He is responsible for everything else. In Matthew 11:29-30 He instructs us to take His yoke upon us, because doing it His way makes the work easy and light. This is the freedom Christ died on the cross to give us.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” – Matthew 11:29-30 (NKJV)

When we take on responsibilities He has not delegated to us, we become worn down and frustrated with our lives, wondering why He is not helping us in our situation. We must remember, He is not responsible to help us with or for the outcome of something He has not delegated to us, such things are not a part of  His yoke. It is not our works that please Him, instead it is our obedience (our surrender) to Him. We must develop the faith to walk in obedience, to do only those things He has delegated to us and believe He will take care of the rest.

When was the last time you either took on too many responsibilities, tried to fix a situation on your own, or tried to solve a problem in your life by yourself only to realize after going in circles, there was nothing you could do, but “pray and trust God” to take care it. Why do we too often wait until we hit the wall of “there is nothing else we can do” before we take it to God? Are we truly surrendering our life when we use God as a “backup plan” when nothing else works?

Have you fully surrendered your life to the Lord? Have you laid it at His feet and walked away, trusting the outcome to Him? If not, ask Him to help you and he will come in and give you the freedom Christ died to give you.

Remember to “Let go and Let God.”

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Who’s in the Driver’s Seat

A couple weeks ago, my oldest son asked why his dad always gets to make the final decision if he and I are equals in our marriage. My simple answer was a quick, ‘because he is the head of our family and someone has to make a final decision when we cannot agree.’But a few days later the Lord showed me a good visual example of the correct answer. He showed me our family is like a car, and someone has to be the driver steering our lives. Have you ever noticed that in any type of vehicle, there can only be one primary driver. Even in cars that have more than one steering wheel, such as a driver’s education car, only one person can control the path of the car at any given moment. If more than one person tries to steer and control the car, an accident can happen, or at the very least the car goes off the correct path.

Our life is like a car, the question is “who is controlling the path” of your life? Who is sitting in the driver’s seat of your life? As Christians, our answer to this question should be, “my Lord Jesus Christ is in control.” Some may quickly give that answer to the question, without any thought of what it truly means…But how many can give that answer willingly, honestly, and whole heartedly with an understanding of the surrender and sacrifice that must come along with it? How many Christians can truly say the Lord is in full control of their life, that they would willingly lay down all of their wants and desires to follow the path the Lord sets before them…no matter where that path may lead them?

When we lay our lives down at His feet, fully surrendered and willing to go where He sends us, we are not to become simple passengers in the backseat of our life, just going along for the ride. We are to use the wisdom and knowledge the Lord gives us daily to navigate [plan] the course He lays before us, following His direction for our steps.

 

A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. –Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)

 

Although we may plan our way [life], we never know where the Lord is leading us until we arrive at our destination. Quite often we would never choose the steps He lays out before us if we knew what the path looked like before we took it. His steps will take us down the less traveled, rocky and narrow path, one that may be hard and even painful at times. But when we come out on the other side, we are stronger and wiser.

I recently heard someone say that we live our life looking forward, but we understand our life looking backward. How true this is…When we are on the dark, rocky, and less traveled road we are unable to see the changes in our life and the lives of those around us that is happening. But when we emerge from the darkness and look back, we can see the Lord’s hand guiding our every step, maybe even carrying us during the hardest times. It is when we look back on these “hard times” that we can gain wisdom and understanding, this is when we grow in our faith and trust in the Lord…This is when we are able to surrender another piece of our life to Him, allowing Him to “take the wheel”.

Who’s in your driver’s seat?

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We are not perfect

We are not perfect, but Christ is perfect. If we surrender and lean upon Him daily, His perfection will fully wash over us. It will cover all our imperfections, until they are no longer seen or remembered by the Father or ourselves.

Everyone longs for perfection, to be the “best” at something. Even if they are unwilling to admit it openly, no one wants to fail or be at the bottom of “the list”.  This desire should push Christians toward the Lord. But instead, they allow our enemy the Devil to use it to distract them and make them feel unworthy of the Lord’s forgiveness and grace. Christians often believe the lie that they need to “fix” themselves “just a little” before they can be worthy to ask for the Lord’s forgiveness. The truth is that none of us are able to fix ourselves or anyone else. It is only through our full surrender to and acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that our sins can be washed away and we can be made white as snow.

We should not allow our imperfections and weaknesses to pull us down or make us feel unworthy, we should instead take pleasure in them as Paul did in 2 Corinthians 12:10. For it is in our weaknesses that we are made strong through Christ.

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NKJV)

It is when we are at our weakest, that Christ may shine through us in ways we could never imagine. I once heard someone say ,“A ‘cracked pot’ will allow the most Light to shine through [out of] it. “ It is not our abilities or our works that will bring glory to Him…It is when we surrender our will and our ways to Him, and pick up His will and His ways, that we will see His Light shine through our life, changing the world around us…bringing glory to Him in our imperfections.

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