Surrender

“Submit to God and you will have peace; then things will go well for you.” Job 22:21

Have you ever had a moment of conviction? Where God speaks to you so clearly that you know it’s His voice and could only be His voice? I know I have. I’ve become so in-tune with God’s voice that there are moments when I unmistakably hear from Him… and I don’t always like what He has to say. It happened to me recently. I woke up one morning and was sitting in silence and I heard the still, small voice with a single word of instruction. I instantly knew it was God. How? Because I didn’t want to do it. Yup, that’s right. I did NOT want to do what I was being compelled to do. Talk about a Jonah moment. But as I wrestled with the command, there was an addendum. Right. One thing I can always count on God for is the extra piece to bring it all home… He said to me “If this is what you say you want, why can’t you do THIS part?” And I pouted, and whined, but realized He was right. So I surrendered to His command, and the very next day I began to see the reward.

I have to be honest and say, for me, this is the hardest part about dealing with Sadness stepping into my Satisfaction. When I’m living a Satisfied life and Sadness comes along, my anxiety gets heightened and I tend to overthink things. No, like really overthink things. My Safe Circle knows that if I’m calling them I have processed almost 100 possible outcomes to the situation and need to be talked down from what I know is an unrealistic look at the way my situation is unfolding. Now even though I know there are some folks out there dealing with anxiety who can relate to what I’m saying, but it’s not the norm for everyone. But I’m willing to bet that things not going right can make you a bit anxious. And when we’re anxious, its hard to surrender to the will of a higher power. But I want to give you a little perspective that might make it easier.

The beauty in surrendering to the will of God is that it takes the pressure off of you to be the major deciding factor in your life. God likes being responsible for what happens next, and he’s equipped to do the job. Think about Job. Satan and God had a conversation and decided what was going to happen next in his life. Every good thing and bad thing was by their design. So Job didn’t worry about it. Sure, he was angry and outwardly so, but at no point was he pushed beyond his boundary to curse God for his misfortune. He found peace. “Submit to God and you will have peace; then things will go well for you.” (Job 22:21) Now remember, things didn’t get better right away for Job. In fact, he lost more and more and endured the worst of it before things turned around. But the entire time, he remained faithful and was greatly rewarded for it. The same can be true for you.

So the next time you find yourself facing adversity, I want you to listen for God’s voice. He speaks to us in many ways: through music, in the message from the Pastor, even a stranger can provide clarity at times. But the stronger your faith gets, the easier it is to hear God directly. He’s the still small voice that you’re not overly excited to hear from at times. That’s when you know it’s him, because like with any parent, the sting is harder to deal with when they’ve got the ring of truth to them. Then, after you’ve listened for His voice, I want you to commit to the message. Whatever He’s asking you to do, it can’t be worse than what you’ve gone through, so surrender to His will and comply. And finally, when it’s all over and you’ve come out a winner, rejoice in the happiness. It’s ok to celebrate when things are going right, especially when you were impacted by them going wrong.

I love you, and be blessed! And remember, to find Satisfaction in your Sadness… sometimes you have to Surrender the control.