Give it up

Surrender.

 What do you think of when you hear this word?

Do you think of giving up on something in your life that you have been fighting for?
When you hear it does it make you think positively or negatively?

In battle, when someone surrenders it is a sign of defeat.
When you are playing a game and you surrender it also shows that you have given up and lost.

So if surrendering makes us think of defeat why does the Lord ask us to surrender our will to Him?
Shouldn't something the Lord is calling us to do inspire us to have a positive outlook????

I know that when God called me to surrender my life to Him it was the most amazing thing I could have ever done...but it isn't always easy to completely surrender myself to all that He asks of me.
I wish I could say that I am a super Christian that finds it easy to do all that He requires of me...but the truth is that surrendering to Him at times can be a true test of my faith.

Someone once told me that the reason we fear or have anxiety in our lives is because we don't have control of whatever we are fearing.
We fear our future because we don't have control of the outcome...
We are nervous about our current circumstances because we can't control the details....
We are anxious about our finances because we can't control the economy...
We worry about our children because we can't control the decisions they make...

It is our nature to want to control the things around us. There is nothing wrong with that...except for the fact that we can't control life. We can make plans...but there is no way to control everything we face in life.
So that is why surrendering our life to Him is so important.
I am not saying that it is easy(trust me...it is still a process for me) but it is the only HOPE that we have to get through this life.
We have a Father in heaven who is asking us to simply surrender our control to Him so that He can set us free from the burden of trying to fix things in our own strength.
He is God after all right?????
Wouldn't it make sense to let God have control instead of  you(a human being) trying to control and fix things.
It is hard to wrap our minds around that in the midst of extremely difficult situations, but in order to find freedom from your worries and fears...you are going to have to daily and maybe even hourly surrender your will to Him.
Surrendering to God is not a form of defeat my dear friends! Surrendering in this case is the most amazing thing you can ever do for yourself.
You are choosing to place your faith in the loving hands of a Father who will not let you down!
You are surrendering your dreams, plans and ideas for His!
So many times in my own life I have fought God on surrendering certain things that I did not want to allow Him to have control of.
I would fight with Him and convince myself that He couldn't possibly be asking me to surrender something that "I" knew was what was best.  (can you believe we try to convince God we know better than Him...ha)
The Lord wants us to surrender to Him not so that He can control us....He does it so that we can find peace and freedom in knowing that we don't have to worry because He is going to take care of everything!
When we release control to Him we are freed up to focus on other things in life and not be bogged down with all of the unneeded stresses.

My sweet brothers and sisters God wants you to trust Him! He longs for you to take a leap of faith and surrender your control to Him so that He can show you His faithfulness!

What are facing today that you need to release control over to Him for?
Is there an area of your life that you are facing extreme fear in because you can't control the outcome?

I want to encourage you today with every ounce of passion that I have to begin to start allowing God to have some control over the things in your life.
Take baby steps at first if you have to...
I promise that once you finally reach the point of full our surrender to the Lord in the areas you fear the most you will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams!

Jesus longs to help you, heal you, and rescue you...
Won't you let Him????

Oh sweet friends how He loves you and me!