Igniteနမူနာ

Surrender

You were not meant to be average.

God didn’t bless you with unique gifts, talents and abilities for them to be halfheartedly, haphazardly used.

Just face it: from conception, you’ve been exceptional! Your hair color, the inflection of your voice and even your personality were all designed on purpose and will never be duplicated. 

You and I have a limited opportunity, the space between our birth date and death date, to make the most of everything we’ve been given. To maximize this opportunity, we’ve got to figure out how to set our souls ablaze for the things of God. 

If you want to live with a burning fire and passion for God, to walk fully in your purpose and have clarity and direction for your life, there’s a crash course you’ve got to enroll in before you even get started. 

This course is called Surrender.

Your level of passion for God is related to the depth of your level of surrender to Him. 

To surrender means to yield. When your ideas and God’s ideas bump heads, surrender is a deferral to God’s way instead of yours. Surrender is what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He was confronted with the reality of His impending death. At the height of His anguish and despair, He said to the Father, “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). 

Surrender is what Mary displayed after finding out that she, an unwed young girl, would give birth to the Savior of the world, when she said to the angel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Though she might have envisioned another direction for her life, Mary willingly followed God’s path instead of her own.

In the book of Acts, we see that when the disciples’ surrendered hearts encountered the risen Savior, fear turned to faith. Timidity turned to unwavering conviction. Lack of purpose turned to clarity. These men had boldness, courage and steadfastness that couldn’t be shaken.

Only those who surrender wholeheartedly and completely to God’s ways will experience the fire and intensity their souls seek. 

What is one area of your life where God is inviting you to deeper levels of surrender?