Thursday, March 12, 2009

Surrender and the Church Lady


God's call to wholly surrender my life to Him came several months ago. I shared the experience here. Surrender is not an isolated event without lasting consequences. It is a long-term deal that continuously calls us to release control to God. I withheld pockets of my life and in spite of the ones I surrendered, the few I kept were thorns in my side. He allowed me to release them and, WOW, do I feel free. The release allows Him to move freely within, around, and through us. I want to share with you His movement in my life since I "let it all go," with the hope it might encourage you to do the same.


My children are a source of struggle for me. Hang on, that's not what it sounds like! I have a plan for their future, and it is hard for me to imagine anything different. God's call to surrender demanded change and coincided with some decisions we faced regarding our children. Nice timing, isn't it? I couldn't help but notice how tightly I held the reins of their future. Thankfully God intervened. He allowed me to more fully understand several things, which consequently provided the peace I needed to let go. First, they are His children, entrusted to my care. He knows what is best. Second, He sees their lives from a much greater perspective than I. He knows their future; I imagine it. Finally, their lives were created to fulfill His will, not mine. Is that not what we hope and pray for, that our children will pursue His will for their lives? Then we, too, should pursue His will for their lives. It begins in the decisions we make for them every day. And what became of the decision we faced? I tried to beat down the door I wanted opened to near exhaustion. I finally gave it up and handed it to God. It took a lot of prayer and determination to "walk by faith," but I released. Enter God. Within weeks, He graciously opened the door I tried many times to beat down. I had the most joyful run of my life (with what seemed like endless energy) after the door opened and could think of nothing to offer but, "Thank you, Father. Thank you! Thank you!" God is so good, and so kind. He gives far more than I deserve.

Our Father places ideas in our minds and passions in our hearts. It is one of the Spirit's ways of accomplishing His work through us. Of course, we must listen. I allowed numerous ideas to wither and die. The call to surrender challenged me to follow His lead when His inspiration strikes. The blog is one example of listening to Him. Another is my post about my passion for Africa and dream to establish a school there. I walked far out a high limb to place into public view a dream of mine for which I had NO PLAN. How many times did I think, What if this doesn't work? How stupid will I look if this never happens? The fear of failure can be a huge stumbling block, but I've seen God shine through other's weakness and I have faith He will do the same for me.  So I put the vision on the blog. Enter God. I received an email from a friend who had read the post. She has ideas..... and contacts. Suddenly, out of the clear blue sky, my "no plan" vision is taking shape. It is a plan that could really make this happen, Lord willing. It was as easy as starting a blog I didn't want to start and sharing a vision I wanted to keep secret. Thank you, Father!! He is all about the details. 

There is one other side-effect of surrender that I experienced. I will again, for sure. This one needs a warning, so here's a clue:

Put on your church lady face and say it with me: "Could it beeeeeeeeeeee.....Satan?" Yes, it's true, surrendering to God's will is a tried and true method of inviting in the Enemy. It just happened to me. First, please believe me that I am not an angry person. I can't remember the last time I was burning mad about something. Surprise, surprise, I recently felt anger take root in my heart and grow like kudzu. I was so mad I could have spit fire, blown steam out of my ears, and worn a path around the house from stomping my feet so hard. I did not know how to handle it. It never happens to me. Why now? Only when I noticed the "coincidental" timing between my surrender and my festering anger did the fighter in me come to life. I remembered a recent lesson from my bible study, and please take note because I don't want to scare off anyone from surrender! Here's the good news:
The Enemy never wins.
God reigns supreme over everything. There is no victory to be had for the Enemy, but there is distraction. Distraction disables us. Anger took my focus off God. If it consumes me, I will slowly withdraw from pursuing His will, and the Enemy wins. The Lord showed me that I needed simply to refocus.....on Him. Sometimes I have to be very deliberate in directing my thoughts. The spiritual weapons found in Ephesians 6:13-17 are invaluable when we sense the Enemy lurking. The following scripture, too, encourages us as we fight:
"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (italics mine)
Our Father wants to accomplish His purpose in our lives. I felt God pulling at my heart, asking for every bit of it. I experienced the peace that accompanies surrender. I marvel now as He accomplishes His purpose in a way that brings me great, unexpected joy. I watch as He attends to the tiniest of details. I praise Him because I am overwhelmed.

Father, reveal to us the reins still clenched in our hands and give us the strength to release them to You.  Help us demolish the stongholds of the Enemy as we take captive our thoughts and make them obedient to You. Open our eyes that we may see you at work around us. Help us focus, Lord, that we may be the vessels You use to accomplish Your purpose. Thank you for the joy we find in You.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The door? What door? And, did you walk through it?

Gwen Oatsvall said...

Amen Sister ... Katie will be home in June for a few weeks ... We need to talk and meet then for sure ... I love how God is pruning you and I ... Our paths different yet the same !!!

Walking through the door with ya !!

Susan said...

Thank you, anonymous friend! Yes, after much prayer, I walked through the door. Sorry to be vague.....things not yet set in stone. :)

Tiffany said...

Amen!!!! I love how He is working in you. I love to see how He is working in other people's lives. Thank you so much for sharing your journey!!

Tina said...

Susan...

GREAT POST.
WRITE.
WRITE.

AND then the book will be born... and somehow I believe Africa has something to do with it.
And Pete.

:)