Surrender...

Surrender...

No matter how many times I've already done it, I have to do it again and again; and it never gets easier. Whether it's surrendering my time, my friends, my calling, my heart, my job; it doesn't matter, it hurts all the same.

God keeps bringing me to the event in Genesis 22 when He asks Abraham to "take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you..." So, Abraham obeys God and he and Isaac travel to the land that God told him so that he may offer Isaac to God. The response that caught my attention was "Here am I". This is what Abraham says to God when God calls for him and it's also what he says when Isaac calls for him. I read this "Here am I" and it really shows me that God is simply looking for people who are willing to confront Him and will answer when He calls on them. The willingness and attentiveness of Abraham really challenges me on whether I am standing at attention when God calls for me or speaks to me...

Another thing that struck me was Isaac was Abraham's son that God had promised years ago, even after Abraham's unfaithfulness and lack of trust in God, God still provided Isaac to Abraham and Sarah when they were 100 years old. Therefore, this sacrifice that God is asking Abraham to make is not only the hardest thing he is ever asked to do but it seems so illogical because God gave him this son in the first place, so why would God give him a son only to sacrifice years later?....

Well, here comes the beautiful part of the story. Abraham makes it to the top of the mountain with Isaac and puts him on the altar and is about to sacrifice his son, knife in hand; when an angel appears to Abraham and says "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for not I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." I love this verse, it reveals the whole purpose of God's command to Abraham, to see if Abraham truly fears Him and loves Him above all other things in the world. God then provided a ram for the offering and spared Isaac's life.

Finally, I read in Gen. 22:15-19 "And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."

This is the beginning of God's promise to Abraham and His people. This is the beginning of a beautiful promise and plan for God's people that reveals His faithfulness and love . The Beginning of God's promise and blessing came from the obedience of Abraham; it came from the call to sacrifice the most important thing in his life. A call that he embraced because he knew that God was worthy of it, no matter how painful it was.

So why do we have to sacrifice and surrender these things to God over and over again?...Because God wants to know if we will say:
"God, I choose you above all other things... No matter how hard it hurts, because you are worthy of it all."

In the end it comes down to realizing that everything comes from God. If He chooses to put something in your life, then He can just as easily take it out. Nothing on this earth is ours, no time, no possession, no person. It all belongs to God. Why not surrender to Him, when in the end He has a beautiful promise to exchange in return for our obedience and fear?

Finally, I surrender.



"All of Me" - Jason Morant
On my face is where we meet
No disgrace is felt only this peace
Having lit this heart with Your burning kiss
You've become all I hope to never live without

In the stillness I know
There is not a thing You haven't done
To make me Your own
All of me

On my face I'm empty yet complete
I have no desire but Your heart to seek
So I'll stay until horizons reappear
And the light from Your love
Will chase away all my fears

In the stillness I know
There is not a thing You haven't done
To make me Your own
All of me all of me
In Your presence I know
It's Your love alone that covers all
My weakness and shame
All of me all of me

So I'll stay right here with You
Yes I'll stay until I disappear into You