Spiritual Boot Camp: The Discipline of Surrender

"Love me, Love me with your whole heart... He wants it all today.
Serve me, serve me with your life now... He wants it all today.
Bow down, let go of your idols...He wants it all today..." Forever Jones

"And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." Deut. 8:3

If we didn't have a reason to give up our lives, we wouldn't do it. Unfortunately, pain so often becomes a moving force in our journey with God. When God humbles us, in whatever way he chooses to do so, it causes pain. It makes us look outside of ourselves for answers and it's part of His way of drawing us to Himself. It's so easy to get comfortable and think that we have it all together. Yet when we realize that we don't, maybe that's the point when God can actually do something with our messed up lives.

The discipline of God involves the mortification of our flesh.  Sometimes God mortifies it for us. If there are things in our lives that we hold onto over and above God for our security and satisfaction, we can bet that God's not going to let us hold onto them for long.

I never realized how guilty I was of idolatry, until I discovered that there were things in my life of which I was not willing to let go. How often have I held onto things thinking that some form of satisfaction was to be found in those things rather than through the realization that the truest satisfaction and freedom is surrendering those things to the will of God and trusting Him to take care of my needs. The opposite of surrender is control, and with control come worry, anxiety, and unrest. I think if I can just control this situation or this person, then I can ensure my satisfaction and ultimately my happiness. Somewhere along the line-- maybe the Garden of Eden-- we thought there must be something better, something different that will improve my happiness. After all, God must not be giving me the best, and if God withholds something from me, then surely there's a way that I can circumvent His will and provide it for myself.

But he calls us to surrender. To let go of our idols. To put our trust in Him everyday, sometimes every hour, believing that He alone is the complete source of healing and provision. I can do absolutely nothing to bring about for myself something that God, in his providence, does not want me to have right now. Surrender is not always easy, but little by little, as the pain and anxiety are replaced with a confident peace in the true character of God, joy comes and with that, hope. Because "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him." Prov. 30:5