I Surrender

Welcome to Unseen today. We are blessed to have a guest blogger today. Cherita Milner is my new friend and fellow writer. Read on to see what God has to say to us about surrendering our wills and our struggles.

I Surrender

 

Genesis 25 – 32 (Jacob’s story)

 

For the last couple of years God has really been peeling off the layers of my shell to bring me to the place of complete brokenness aka surrender.  This process has been on-going for me and sometimes hard… Every time I think Lord this is it, He reveals more.  A couple of years ago he gave me a picture of an onion.  I was the onion and He was peeling off all the layers to get to the sweet core.  Most of this peeling and pruning season of my life has been through circumstances.  Circumstances with my job (which I thought was my security), finances, relationships (friends, siblings, husband, parents), ministry, and numerous moves (due to military)--- lol to name a few. Well here I am again in the process and I hear the Lord say surrender!!!

 

Surrender is difficult because it requires me to give up control of my desires, ideas, and plans for my life and relinquish it over to God and say “Lord I trust you” (His desires and plans for my life).  Well can I be honest?  At times I struggle with this because in the back of my mind I wonder, will God’s way be what’s best for me?  Of course it will, I answer myself (lol), but it’s still that fear of the unknown lingering around that tries to get me to doubt or me being impatient  in the waiting…. And Sometimes God’s desires and plans for me are contrary to what I wanted them to be.. Why? Because like a parent, He knows what’s best for me. 

 

Two things I’ve been going back to the basics on is: 1. Who is God? 2. Who am I in the Lord? See fear from my past has caused me to question God’s goodness.  Fear has caused me to be afraid of failure, men, the unknown, and lack.  It has caused me to believe that I have to look out for myself, so I’ve created my own habits, tactics, ways to go after what I feel I should have.  Am I saying God doesn’t use the things of the world i.e. degrees, training, people we know, gifts, etc.? No I’m not saying that but it is dangerous (I’m finding from experience) to put my faith in my tactics to bring about what I feel I am entitled to.  

 

There is a story in the Bible of a man who I can totally relate to in this area.  I’ve been meditating on his story as God has been showing me He loves me and I can totally surrender all to Him because of His love.  The man I am thinking of is Jacob.  Jacob’s story is told in Genesis 25 – 37; but the account I will give in my own words begins at the end of Genesis 25 – 32.  

 

Jacob was Esau’s twin brother.  They were the children of Isaac and Rachel.  While Rachel was pregnant, she wondered why she was uncomfortable during her pregnancy. Rachel was told by God that the children were fighting in her womb (and would spend their whole life doing so).  God also told her the older brother would serve the younger brother.  Fast forward some years, Jacob must have known it because all their lives it appeared he was deceptive in receiving Esau’s blessing.  Finally, the time had come for Jacob to make his move.  Isaac was sick and Jacob pretended to be Esau and prepare his father a meal.  When he took his father the meal, his father gave him Esau’s blessing.  Due to the deception, Jacob had to run and hide because Esau wanted to kill him for what he had done.  Jacob went to live with his uncle were he married his cousins and had children.  God appeared to Jacob and told him to return to his father’s house.  Jacob was still afraid of what his brother might do to him.  Jacob obeyed God’s command to go but he devised a plan to deceive and manipulate his brother in case his brother wanted to kill him.  See although God Jacob to go he was still up to his old ways in protecting himself (boy can I relate).

 

After Jacob was alone and on his way to the place God had told him to go, Jacob had an encounter with the Lord (actually the bible says angel of the Lord – this is a debate on rather it was an angel or God).  Whatever point of view we know it was supernatural.  Scripture states Jacob wrestled with the angel all night (can you imagine?) and then the angel hurt his hip so he could stop fighting.  Jacob still didn’t stop fighting and told the angel he wouldn’t let go until he blessed him. 

 

                First off I would like to point out how exhausted Jacob must had been wrestling/fighting with a supernatural being all night?  On top of being hurt fighting… I mean  this shows us his desperation for a blessing. Though I say this oh how I am there in my life… Fighting and wrestling with surrendering to God.  How He is calling me to a place where there is something more but I still have to have my input, my say…

 

                Secondly, Jacob told the angel he wouldn’t let go until the angel blessed him.  Jacob must have been looking for something so great that he was fighting for it.  Man, I can relate to this too… screaming, waiting, fighting for what I feel should be mine.  But what exactly should be mine?  What exactly should have been Jacob’s?  I mean didn’t God just tell him to go back to his father’s house so the Lord could bless him and be with him?  Basically Jacob was going back to get what God had already ordained for him to have when he was in his mother’s womb … How much more did Jacob want.  Scripture doesn’t tell us but I believe he wanted the conflict with his brother to be resolved; that was his fear that stood in his way of his blessing right? So he thought.  So many times I look at my circumstances and think God should bless me a certain way.  The blessing I may be looking for my not be the one that God intended to give me.  

 

Scripture states that after fighting all night the angel asked Jacob his name (as if he didn’t already know).  Jacob told him his name and the angel changed it from Jacob (meaning heel grabber) always trying to fight and deceive to get his way to Israel,  because he had overcome struggling with God and man.  Wow, do you get this? We are the same way , once we have surrendered to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we have been given a new name, 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! We are no longer the old man; doing things the way we use to.  We are now a new creation in God totally surrendered to the new nature. Jacob only changed when he was fully convinced that he was a new man..

 

Where are you in this story?  What part of Jacob’s life struggle/victory speak to you?

 

1.       Are you using your old ways, tactics, perceptions, habits, etc. to get what you think you should have? Or maybe you are confident God wants you to have it and like Jacob you use your old ways to obtain it instead of surrendering and allowing God to do it His way.  Maybe you think you can handle your finances, relationships, career, rebellious children, diet, exercise new location, etc...

 

2.       Maybe you are not in the first category… Maybe you are just fighting with God and taking your stance that it is your life.  Or maybe you have been so hurt in the past that you have told God I will not surrender this part of my life.  I will not forgive, walk in love, love my enemies, etc.

 

3.       Or maybe you have surrendered but are struggling to walk out the new life God has given us.  I mean what do you do in the waiting? What does the new man look like? How do we get rid of our old habits?

 

Right now I believe God is waiting to meet us face to face in the struggle (like He did with Jacob).  He is waiting for us to run to Him and tell Him our story and reason from wanting to surrender.  He already knows but He wants to hear our pain, frustration, discouragement, lack of faith, fear, worry, and despair.  This is surrender.  This is running to our father and saying Lord my ways aren’t working. I’m tired… Being tired is surrender and one step closer to change.  Lord help us today & give each of us a fresh revelation of what surrender looks like in each of our lives.  Show us your truth in who we are and that you love us despite our faults and failures.  

Moving on up

Moving is a huge pain I am always appalled at the amount of stuff I’ve accumulated every time I move. I always start sorting and packing being very organized. I put like things in each box and carefully and clearly label it Before long, though, I have 15 boxes of miscellaneous. The only thing worse than moving is moving into a place that is upstairs. It is not too bad at first., but ever trip up the stairs gets a little harder. Your arms, legs and back ace\he and you’re short of breath. You’re probably also short of temper. but maybe that’s just me. By the time you get the furniture muscled up the stairs and maneuvered into the house you wonder just how bad it would be to sleep on the floor. I usually reach a point where I say, “ If its not moved in now, its not coming.”

For many of us, God is in the process of moving us to a higher place. It may be a higher place of faith and relationship with him. It may be a higher lace of favor in work or ministry or a new level of recovery or restoration with people you love. What are you dragging behind you as you climb? What is making your heart beat faster with fear or your breath catch with memories of past regrets?What words were spoken over you that slows your spiritual steps with self doubt. What baggage do you need to leave at the bottom of the stairs?

Paul tells us that life is a journey with a prize at the end. In Phillipians 3:12-15 he says " I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  Hebrews 11:10 is clear that we are  not home yet. We read, "For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."

This is not our home, but we are not alone. The writer of Hebrews encourages us "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

May we have the courage this week to look forward as we are moving up and leave things at the bottom of the stairs that will not help us when we get there.