This is a series that I believe the Holy Spirit wants me to put in my blog. I pray that the readers will finish reading all parts of the series and get something from it. These are things that we need to do in order to seek the real living God. I am not qualified to write this series because I am also at the learning stage. But, it is God’s Spirit that will speak to you through these articles.
“Missing Key: Total Surrender”
Have you ever heard of the saying “you cannot fill up a cup that is already full?” It means you cannot teach a person who thinks he knows a lot.
You cannot hand something to a person who is already holding a handful.
It’s just that, there’s no more space. It just won’t work.
In our life, we hold so many things:
· What we will eat
· Where we will stay
· Bills
· To Dos at home and at work
· Career
· Short term goals
· Long term goals
· Dream
· How we will get to where we want
· Family issues
· business
· Ministry
· Charitable service
Everyone holds these things in their lives. Malamang, kapag hindi, sa’n kaya ta’yo pupulutin?
How would you know if you hold something? You think about it. You worry about it. You are always reminded of it. You feel obliged to accomplish or attain whatever that is.
And we are full of these. They are basically the reasons why we need to wake up every morning. While reading this article, you will remember something that you hold. You hold the movie you plan to watch. You hold the website you want to visit next. You hold the intriguing stat message your friend in FB posted. There are so many things we hold. This is life. This is the reality.
Kaya sooner or later, we feel stressed out, tired. So we plan vacation time, night outs, or inuman with barkada to retreat from the things we hold on to.
Ako yung tipo ng tao na marami nito. My dad was not with me when I grew up. So the orphan spirit had its nest on my head. The orphan spirit gave me a thinking of I-have-to-do-this. Since my dad was not around, I involuntarily took the position of a father at a very early age. And yeah, pride became my teacher. I was good at almost everything I do, except basketball. (My dad was not here to teach me that.) I strived hard and gained the respect of classmates and teachers and friends. But I was a freak’n jerk. Deep inside me was a proud, backbiting, gossiping loser. I hated instructions. I hated criticisms.
I worried about so many things: career, job, trips, ventures, business. I ruled my own life and I suck at it!
When I first became “born-again”, I still ruled my life. I seemingly told God ‘you are my God every Sunday and the God of my spirituality and the God when I am in trouble…but I am the god of myself whenever and wherever I want it.’ My plans. My purpose. My way!
I grew up this way. I grew up to be a ‘manager.’ That’s probably why I somehow did excel in management course.
But a cup that is already full can never be filled. God cannot hand me the life He wanted me to live because I was holding a handful of life stuff. God cannot work in me because I put myself in charge of the work inside of me. I was in total control.
I found it hard to trust and depend to others. I am still struggling with this now. I grew up being able to manage myself emotionally. I had no one to depend to emotionally. Not even my mom. I never listened to anyone. In other words, loner.
I thought I was walking on the path where God wanted me to walk but it is just lately that I realized I wasn’t.
I remember myself being convinced that when the rapture takes place, I will be taken away. I was wrong. Without total surrender, I will not be raptured. Why? I cannot be filled with what God wants me to be filled? Why? My cup was full.
Naalala ko yung sinner’s prayer. Sabi dun “Jesus, I make you the Lord and savior of my life.” When I said ‘Lord’, it meant I am willing to surrender my life control to Jesus. But I did not know it. Many Christians do not realize it either. After they got saved, they return to controlling the phases of their lives.
If without the Lord, my life sucked, how will it differ if I got saved but I still control my life? I am still me. When I got saved, I was not instantly holy. I still have some things in me that need working out even until now and until I leave earth. And through Christ’s lordship over my life, He will be able to renew my mind and mold my character to the man he wants me to be.
Total surrender to Jesus brings us to a higher level of Christianity. We begin to open up to Jesus and we begin to be filled by His Holy Spirit.
Kaya total surrender is an important key in finding the genuine God. Unless we are able to surrender what we hold to Jesus, He will not be able to lead us closer to Him.
I believe God does not want us to live normal, mediocre life. God wants our life to be like the movies where we get to experience things we never expect. I believe God wants to take us to places where we never thought of going in our own capability. Eto yung reason why small names in the Bible became so great like my favorite king, David. Abraham and Moses rin. Joshua as well.
All of them surrendered their control to God. The things they hold, they let God hold it for them so that they do what God wants them to do. And when they do what God wants them to do, we just can’t help but see them as great people as well. Even Jesus surrendered His own will to His Father. And as a result, Jesus is glorified and is now even sitting higher that His Father.
Surrender involves a lot of humility and I say a lot. Seryoso, hindi siya madali. Lalo na para sa’kin na lumaking emotionally independent. Surrender is an everyday choice. Hindi tayo pipilitin ni Lord. Pero if we are seeking for the genuine God, wanting to be a genuine Christian, surrender is a must. When we surrender, self becomes less and God becomes more.
Diba nga we are called Christians? It means we are Christ-like. We are carbon copy of Jesus Christ. How can I become a Jesus carbon copy if Ryan is still fighting and striving?
Surrender is an everyday process. It is an everyday choice.
Let me give you a clear example.
Kunwari meron akong napakamahal na xbox. I need to go to abroad and I can’t bring my ‘beloved’ xbox with me. So I decided to leave it to a friend’s care. So ibig sabihin, I will surrender my xbox to him and get it back until I return. So when I handed over my xbox to my friend, I told him to hold it with extra-extra care. It is very valuable to me. His life is no match for the value of the xbox.
Before the plane leaves, I even called him to check up on it. When I got abroad, I spent extra money to call him to check out the xbox.
Do you think I totally surrendered the xbox? No. I was still worrying about it to the point telling my friend that its value is more than the value of his life. There was no peace in me. Unrest ruled. Stressed out kaka-isip. Tiring.
This is likened to how we are living our lives. We worry and worry. Every minute, we worry. This has become our lifestyle.
What God wants us to do is to hand over to Him, the xboxes and rest assure that it is in safe hands. He wants us to hand over to Him everything and rest assure that we are safe in God’s hands.
It becomes a matter of trust. Do you trust God with your life? Is your life of more value than Jesus’? Are we willing to hand to Him completely all the things that we hold? It’s also a matter of love. You don’t trust someone you don’t love.
Small examples of surrender
· Wala kang pang-matrikula. Are you a born-again Christian? Yes. Then you are a recipient of God’s promises. Know and believe that your God will provide because He is your provider. Stop worrying about it. God has already taken care of it. Believe and declare. Ipa-ubaya mo kay Lord.
· Na-late ka ng gising. Traffic sa Edsa. You’re gonna be late for work. Let go of this worry. First, admit that it was your fault. Second, be wise because you know worrying will not make you be there in time. Surrender to God and you might even get the grace you are asking for. If not, at least you are free from guilt, condemnation, from stress, from blaming. You feel free.
· Someone from your family was diagnosed with cancer? Isn’t God your Jehovah healer? He wants to heal your family ASAP. So what you do is surrender that relative to God. Tell God that your will be done to him or her. You hand him/her over to God. Whatever happened to him/her, ikaw na bahala, Lord. (This is something I could have done when my lola died. Instead, I tried doing things on my own.)
· You are not in the job you wanted. Let it go. Do not worry about it. Trust God that He wants to make you pass through jobs to prepare you for your mainstream. (talking to myself)
· You forgot your wallet? Do not worry. Surrender to God and ask Him for directions.
Surrendering to God allows effective communication between Him and you. When we panic, or when we are so consumed by the situation, we do not hear the right words from God that will help us solve the problem.
Peepz, God cares for the littlest details in your life. God cares for your hairstyle, your dress, your make-up. Why do you think God will care for that? Who knows? Just trust Him. Malay mo, if God wanted you to wear a specific color of lipstick, it is because you will meet the guy you are destined to marry during the day. And that guy falls for that color. Who knows?
Kaya nga trusting God brings us to experiences that are fun, adventurous, memorable and exciting. We will never have a dull life.
Surrender takes humility and trust. Through surrender, we are able to hear from God. When we hear from God, and we know it is God, we obey. And when we obey, the power of God starts working.
Total surrender makes life worriless. No excess baggage while we walk the streets of The Fort or Makati. This is the life that God designed for us. Jesus took our burdens on the cross so that we can live a life that is not burdensome. God is too big for our problems, situations, events in our life. Trust God that He will fix things, that He will provide, that He will heal.
When we got saved, we became a legal recipient of His promises. But it takes surrender to feel the full measure of God’s words and power in our lives. (talking also to myself)
The maturity of a Christian is based on how much of him is surrendered to the Lord. How much of Christ is now in him. A mature Christian is humble, just as Christ was humble.
The Lord said in the bible that we, Christians, will do greater things that Jesus did. How? Not by our own but by obeying the will of the Father. Meaning our plans, our goals, our life needs to be handed over to the Father and let His plans, His goals, His life be the ones we carry.
It is a divine exchange. There is a transaction. Himself for yours. Myself for Him. And since He gave all that He can give me, I am expected to give all that I can give Him. If I take care of God’s business, He will take care of mine. It’s a covenant thingie again.
In a covenant, there is a surrender, surrender of own will and control.
I mistaken surrender from give up. Surrender simply means to hand over to the care of someone else. Example, food. Surrender does not mean to give up food. Surrender means to let God ‘worry’ about that food you will eat. Basta ikaw, Alam mo God will provide for the food. That is surrender!
If you want to be a movie director, surrender it to God! That does not mean you give up becoming a movie director. Surrender means to let God worry about you becoming a famous director. As for you, you just do and obey the things that you are assigned for now.
Worrying makes people sick. It is scientifically proven. Holding on to many things is not what we were created to do. That’s why God pleads for us to surrender. There is delight in surrendering.
In surrendering, we empty our cup. We become an empty vessel so that God now can use us to display what He wants the world to see. The Holy Spirit takes delight on an empty vessel. That is what He wants each and every Christian to become. He wants us to be surrendered Christians.
If we are living a mediocre Christian life, it’s either we are contented with it or you have not surrendered fully to your God.
As I choose to surrender my life slowly to my Lord, I am discovering things about the real Christianity to the point of not being affected by the infamy brought by Christians who are too focused on judgment day and by Christians who fight among themselves.
With a surrendered life, God can easily take us out from any bad situation we are in because we clearly hear His voice and we easily understand what He wants us to do.
Just let go. Just surrender to God.
Even those who have offended us, those who have sinned against us. Release them to God. Let God do the revenge for us. Release. Release.
For every thing that you want to surrender to God, just speak words of release. “Lord, I release this situation in my life to you. Kaw na bahala diyan, Lord. I am tired of carrying it.” After this, you stop worrying about it.
“Lord, I release so-and-so to your hands. May you take care of the judgment he deserves.”
“Lord, I release to you this problem. It’s making me stressed out. I trust you on this.”
“Lord, I want to do this now but I can’t. I release this to you now.”
The things we worry or the things we do not surrender are the things we pursue. The things we pursue with passion become our god. When we make Jesus, Lord of our life, it is only He whom we pursue passionately by surrendering our own worries, things, will, plans to His hand. I believe there is no safer place than Jesus’ care.
Sosyal ka, the God of heaven and earth offers Himself to carry what you should be carrying. Why not just surrender it to Him and take it easy and cool? By this, we can become like little children again, free of burdensome worries. And when we become like little children in Christ, we become legal heirs of God’s kingdom.
And yes, total surrender is more effective than Olay or any anti-aging cream there is in the market. Jesus wants you looking good, not old. The elderly might be old in age, but some of them are more child-like than the younger ones. Be not deceived, my brethren. =)
And as much as possible, avoid unnecessary burdens in your life. This is what I do every day. Every day has its own problems. Every day, we surrender. Try it, and experience God in full! Try it, and see the real difference.
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