Open Your Heart // Live Fully SurrenderedSample

The Road (to Freedom)

I know this time is hard now. You wander; I see you. But you are not aimless. You know where you are going. But still, you feel restless, and a little lonely. Yet you know I am here, that I am with you, and you want more of me. You walk, your hands swinging at your sides, your hands empty. The ground is firm beneath your feet. You go forward, but you are willing to turn. Periodically you pause, feel the breeze on your face. You imagine the ocean is near; you like the sound of waves. It helps you remember I am near. 

I know you love my strength. You feel secure with me, walking through terrain that is difficult to cross. You want to know me more. You want all of me and you aren’t sure how to attain it—how to attain more of me. You desire more closeness, greater intimacy; you want nothing to come between us. You want to live a life of worship, living with your soul completely at home with me. Yes, I want this too. I love that you want this . . . Again, I want this too.

You ask me, “How do I live a life fully surrendered? How do I maintain closeness with you? How do I not forget you?” You ask me, and then you remember the word “freedom”—how you love that word. And you remember that “surrender” and “freedom” go hand and hand. That sounds pretty good to you, too. 

So tilt your head back now son, daughter. Yes, I see you doing it. Reach your hands out, fingers outstretched. Remember my Son, Jesus. Remember how he stretched out his arms, surrendering everything. He gave everything, and I give everything, and this is why you are hungry for giving everything too. We are alike, you and me. I live within you, and you want to fully mature so that my presence within you is what you realize more completely. Yes, I am so excited for that day! 

And now, and now . . . remember my Son, your King who died so that you might live. The King whose outstretched arms and beating heart defied death, defied what this world thinks of victory. It is in complete surrender that Life is born. It is in surrender, and death, and Life that you are made new, no longer restless, your heart satisfied, growing into the person I have created you to be. 

Walk further in now. Walk deeper into this heart of mine—the one that holds you and longs to help you feel it. You know these arms. My arms of love on your shoulders. This is how we walk, you wearing my cloak of surrender. New life rushing in. 

Exercise:

How do we stay close to Jesus, even in the midst of our crazy busy lives? How do we keep from forgetting our Abba Father as we blaze through our lists of things that must get done? How do we find the freedom to find God today?

Here’s a place to start: let’s remember what Jesus showed us. Remember now? How freedom comes only from surrender. How freedom comes from death—death modeled by Jesus on the cross?

Jesus, fully God but also—like us—fully human, surrendered himself. He gave up his life, and now lives again. And we, as His followers, because of his death and his resurrection, because He is now in us and we in Him—we have died also, and we also live again.

But that doesn’t mean we’re done. You see, Jesus was doing something else on that cross, too. He was showing us what it looks like to live in the Kingdom—as new, reborn women and men. He was showing us that whenever life cannot keep going as usual, when something has got to change, then there must be death, and from death comes new life—life better than before. Jesus was showing us what every day should look like, for us now. Every week. Every year. 

This is the road. This is the Way. Daily surrender is the road to freedom. Many deaths. But don’t be fooled. Our Abba Father is a God of abundance and outrageous generosity. So, this road is not a road to less. It’s a road to more. To so much new life. So much more freedom. So much more of Him. So much more truth and goodness. With God, there is always more. Jesus says very clearly: “I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!”

Now, this death part is difficult, for sure. It was difficult for Jesus. But He let the will of His Father become His will. And even though it’s one of the most difficult things we must do, we must follow Him. “Not my will, Father, but yours be done.” It’s often hard just to form those words in our mouths. But they are the first step on this road to more. And they are every step along the way. A willingness to die—to die to our self-interests, our selfishness, our unforgiveness, our doubt, our cynicism, our resentment, our anger, the ways we self-medicate and self-protect, all those things we hold onto, too tightly. Dying to those things is the road to freedom and abundance. This is the road to more God.

It’s the road to the cross. It’s not the road away from the cross. Or around the cross. It’s the way of the cross.

I invite you to open your mind, your imagination to Holy Spirit.

Can you imagine yourself there now, standing in front of the cross—your feet flat on the ground, your arms stretched out, one to the left, one to the right?  If you’re in a place where you can do so, stand up and get into that position now. If you aren’t, then simply imagine yourself doing it.

Now, imagine giving up your life. Giving up . . . something. What is it?

What is the death for you today? What needs to die in your life right now?

This is tough, I know. Death is hard. Maybe you’re having a hard time wanting to give up this thing. Or maybe you don’t think you can. Or maybe you think this thing you’re dealing with is more powerful than the cross.

I assure you, it’s not. If you trust, if you surrender, if you ask for help in surrendering, then the cross will do its work. Just as it did with Jesus. It always works. In God’s time, in God’s way. It always works. And after its work is finished, there will come new life, better life than you can imagine, life that never ends.