My End Is His Beginning
Hello everyone! Happy Friday! :)
Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. I'm eager to share this topic with you today. It's been a long week, with busy evenings lately, but I felt that this was worth sharing.
Surrender in itself is a word we probably don't want to identify with; basically, in a way, it does mean to give up. Who wants to identify as some who gives up? But that's essentially what happens when we choose to do life by ourselves, without God. Life becomes exhausting, trying to fix things all on your own. Psalm 37:7a says, surrender yourselves to the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Asking for surrender and patience is requesting a lot if you think about it.
But you know what is so amazing about the "waiting patiently" is that God is working in the supernatural. He is working those things out that we have burdened ourselves with when we try to change, fix, and find a solution all by ourselves. God doesn't ask us to be patient and wait for nothing.
Surrendering to God is something entirely distinct from the kind of surrender when someone gives up. Our self-will (stubbornness, pride, ambition) can sometimes get in the way of what God is asking from us. We get stubborn with our own plan, which becomes more stressful, and probably discouraging when things don't happen our way.
Surrendering to God can never be stressful or discouraging; it's quite the opposite. There is a lot of peace and hope in placing our trust in Him.
Surrender is not a one-and-done deal either. No, it doesn't work that way. Instead, we have to practice surrender daily; it is a lifelong daily decision we make.
While surrender is a lifelong challenge, I can point to a particular point in my life when I realized that God was my only hope. I was at my wit's end, and I didn't have any solutions for what I was facing. Little did I know, my end was God's beginning for what He would do in my life. It's incredible what God can do with a surrendered soul. The value of surrendering allows us to display the characteristics of God: love, patience, joy, self-control, forgiveness, grace. God replaces all the ugly with His beauty! And still, it's an ongoing decision we have to make.
There is a book I have read many times called SHAPE- Finding & Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose. In it, there is a chapter called “Letting Go” that I have found to be very impactful and valuable. The author shares five roadblocks of life that are necessary to let go of. And I want to share them with you because I believe it will be very helpful as you discover what needs to be surrendered to God. Often, we don't consider these to be things that we hold on to as we try to fix ourselves, yet we do.
Here are five things to surrender to God:
Give God your worries. Psalm 55:22 says:
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
Give God your wounds. Psalm 147:3 says:
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Give God your wrongs. Romans 8:1-2 says:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Give God your weaknesses. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 says:
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Give God your wishes. Proverbs 3:5-6 says:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.
If you are wondering, “what's the point?” Well, it just so happens that you are not here on this earth without a purpose. God created you to live out a unique purpose for Him. God takes what we surrender and He never shames us. He begins the transformation process, which is difficult and painful at times, and He redeems it all for His glory. Psalm 139:23-24 says: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
I'll end with a quote from Andrew Murray (Absolute Surrender):
"The absolute surrender of everything into His hands is necessary. If our hearts are willing for that, there is no limit to what God will do for us or to the blessing He will bestow."