If we have any hope of moving up and out of the trouble, we have to surrender, to let go, to lie down our own ability to fix it and say, “SOS. I can’t fix this. I’ve got nothing. I’ve exhausted all my resources. This is really bad and broken and outside of my control. Giving this one to you, Pops.”
Because He knows what He’s doing.
Does that mean we don’t try? Of course not!
Give up, surrender, or submit?
Does that mean we don’t persist and press on? Not in the slightest!
So, then, what does it mean?
Surrender does not mean to quit. Surrender means to submit.
To submit to the circumstances, the unknown, the present struggle, and place God has us with a deep-seated trust that this pain is not purposeless. His ways are not my ways (Isaiah 55:8) and sometimes submitting to His ways doesn’t guarantee that it’s all going to be fixed overnight. But ten times out of ten, it will bring a glory so great that the present sufferings aren’t even worth dwelling on (Romans 8:18).
Trusting God doesn’t mean we won’t have trial in this life. In fact, Jesus said that we WILL (not might) have trouble in this life BUT that we are not bound to that trouble because HE has overcome the world (John 16:33).
I didn’t overcome the world. Some days I’d like to, though. We didn’t overcome the world. Although sometimes we like to try.
Despite our best efforts on our best days and our greatest behavior and movements as mankind…only ONE man walked out of the grave for me and for you (Luke 24).
So even if it seems like a heckuva lot, if you’re overwhelmed right now, please understand that it’s okay to walk away for a little while. It’s okay to break down and cry. But it’s not okay to live there. It’s not okay to set up camp in Pity-ville.
Because He’s offering you a one way ticket out of there. You just have to drop your feeble efforts, angry tears, and sunburned cheeks at the cross. In other words, when we move out of our pity party and into greater glory, all the little pains, frustrations, and trials along the way are part of the story not the end of the story.
Hang in there with me, friend. God is big and mighty enough to handle this but not so big and might that He doesn’t understand or step into your pain. Because Jesus felt and walked through your very pain. He carried it on His shoulders and nailed it to a cross.
And He didn’t march out of the tomb just for us to stay stuck in the tombs life tries to bury us in, right?
So strap on your Jesus sandals and keep on marchin’ with me. Press into Him, cry on His shoulder, lean into His hugs, and roll that stone aside.
And take heart. He has overcome the world (John 16:33).
By Jordan Lee