5 Leadership LessonsSample

Surrender

God asked, “Moses, what do you have in your hand?”

Moses replied, “I have a staff.”

“Throw it down.” God commanded.

At a different time in Moses’ life, it could have just as easily been a stick or a scepter in his hand. But it didn’t matter if it was a stick, a staff, or a scepter; what God asked of Moses didn’t depend on what he had in his hand. He instructed him to throw it down.  Simply put, He wanted Moses to surrender what he had in that moment.  

I was raised in a family that served God for many generations.  Tithing was second nature.  I started tithing the moment I moved from the nursery to the sanctuary and after seeing my parents' generous example year after year, I too found joy in being able to give and bless others.  I recall hearing about a guy that said God told him to give away his house and he did!!  I remember thinking, “Man I sure hope God never asks me to do that.  I don’t believe I have that much faith.”

Several years later, my wife and I were saving to build what we planned on calling our “Legacy Lodge” on our ranch.  It was to look very much like many of the mountain vacation homes we had stayed in.  I remember the excitement when we deposited our last check before starting construction.  

Shortly after, on a drive from Oklahoma to Arkansas, I was pondering and dreaming of our Legacy Lodge and what we would do first when I was prompted by a voice that said I should ask God what He wanted us to do first.  So, I did.  I thought He would pick from my list of things. Instead, he responded by telling me to give it all away!  

I began to argue.  I talked about the large sum of money we saved for years to pay for this dream. He assured me that He wanted me to give it away.  Back and forth we went until it finally dawned on me, “What am I? stupid?” God told me, “I want you to surrender it to me.  I want you to throw it down.” I realized this was a test.  

When I told my wife, she didn’t argue.  She said “where?”  That night we prayed and divided it between 5 ministries we were supporting at the time and gave it all away.  

Then, we went back to saving for the vision.  Our vision didn’t get taken away or abandoned.  God asked us to lay down our good vision and turned it into a God vision.  He changed our vision from a property that would impact our family for generations to a property that would change the world for generations.  Our simple mountain lodge became “The Cedar Gate,” a place dedicated to connecting and impacting generations.  A place set apart where people everywhere could come to disconnect from the urgent long enough to connect with the important.  

Like with Moses, once we let go of our staff and let God have it, it often turns into a snake, we no longer want to hold because it’s scary.  When we surrender it to Him, it goes from a good vision that we can do on our own to a God vision that there is no way it can be done without him.  He will ask you to trust Him and pick it up. 

Hear me! What you have in your hand, is not yours.  It is His and He asks you to surrender it.  Once you do, then God can do miracles!  

He can do the extraordinary with the ordinary.