Surrendered

I have not updated my blog in awhile so I figured I should go back to January and write about my "one word". I had so many come to mind and then after consideration and prayer they changed. I really settled on committed and then through several different ways God showed me that this is the last thing he wants from me.

Committed.. it seems like a good thing to be. I guess it is good in certain areas but God impressed upon me that this was not enough. Commitment is something I control, I decide what I am committed to, how long I am committed for, and to what degree I am committed.

This is not what God is asking from me. He is asking that I surrender my life. This is something different entirely, there is no control. If I truly surrender then I have no say in what God has me do. This is a concept that is hard to wrap yourself around when you take it into your core like God asks. No control? Completely surrendered?

I can honestly say that this has not been my life. I have certainly tried to follow Gods leading. I have committed to things he has asked of me. I have made commitments to myself , my family, and my church to lead a life pleasing to God. These are all things I have decided, I have controlled.

My one word for this year is surrender. I will continue to daily ask the Holy Spirit to break my willfulness and surrender all that I am to the will of God. To say that living like this is crazy is probably an understatement, but it is what God's will is for each of us and I believe the journey He is going to lead me on is so much more than my feeble attempt at life could ever be.

I heard a while ago an analogy about surrender:

A contract is like a commitment. You put down terms and conditions and after both sides agree you sign it .
To surrender is to sign a blank piece of paper and pass it across the table allowing the other party to put whatever they wish.


God this is my signature on a blank paper. I surrender it to you. I pray that I am man enough to listen to and live up to what you write in this contract that is my life.

David