Daily Surrender

There have been many times that I've found myself feeling spiritually stuck.

I'm wondering, have you ever been in that place?

You're doing everything you can think of,

going to church,

lifting your hands during worship,

crying out to God,

you're responding to alter calls,

praying.

but the emptiness lingers, and the feeling remains.

Your fire has dyed down, but your heart still feels restless.

This is a common place for Christians to find themselves in, but here's what I have learned recently…

If you're craving a life pleasing to God, you must live a life filled with sacrifice and surrender.

To walk with Christ, is to accept a calling of daily surrender.

A life pleasing to Jesus isn't an electric shock of emotions at the altar, nor is it a weekly Sunday service.

A life fully surrendered, will present itself in the motions and the details.

You'll be able to look at someone and recognize the large areas of sacrifice they've committed to, such as;

Refraining from premarital sex, denying lustful thoughts, avoiding worldly environments, surrendering addictions, and refusing to practice self-idolatry.

But you'll also be able to recognize surrender on an emotional level, for example;

Choosing kindness in unspeakable situations, forgiving through the worst pain, denying spiteful motives, and aligning with the fruits of the spirit.

How often do we please our flesh, become idle in our walks, and dismiss areas God has called us to surrender… only to wonder why his spirit hasn’t “showed up” or moved in us?

A failure to live in sacrifice, becomes the doorway to spiritual idleness.

In simplest terms,

Surrender to Christ, is a daily obedience of exchanging pleasure for servanthood.

Romans 12:1-2 says:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Moments at the alter aren't sustainable,

Feeling good on a Sunday, isn't sustainable.

Ultimately you'll come right back to a place of emptiness and defeat.

Although, daily surrender

is practiced in the way we treat people, the thoughts we allow to fester in our hearts, the words we speak, our responses to hurt, our willingness to forgive.

The thought of surrender may feel overwhelming at first;

leaving behind the unhealthy emotions you've grown comfortable to,

denying the sinful habits that your flesh continuously runs towards,

or even walking away from worldly friends that you've learned to deeply care for,

But you'll soon come to know,

Surrender is not defeat, it's your daily worship.

If I may ask,

What areas of your life are only partially surrendered?

How are you outwardly living a life of servanthood?

When tempted or when facing pain, what are your unhealthy default emotions? Have you surrendered them to God?

Are you in the habit of daily surrender?

I pray that you ponder on these words, and come to know the freedom in daily surrender.