Friday, May 18, 2012

The Beauty of Surrender


There is nothing easy about taking a step to leave friends, family, cherished relationships or your home...  But what if, that step of leaving propels you into the depths of the most intimate relationship with the Lord that you have ever known?  What if that relationship with the Lord, always requires leaving something behind?  What if leaving something behind requires you to trust him even more than you already do?  And what if trusting him even more than you already do, leads to restoration and the progressive sanctifying of your life?

There is a line.  Not a physical line or something you can see, but a line of where our adequacies as human beings end.  In our own strength and what we can muster, we can only go so far.  And then beyond that “line of reality” is a place where we have the opportunity to exist.  The only reason that we can exist in that place is because God fills the gap.  He fills that space of impossibility with Himself and gives us a solid foundation to stand on.  When life seems uncertain and we want to take the step that seems to make the most sense, He whispers to the depths of our soul….. step here, I’ll be waiting.
 
Fear or Faith? Two relentless and opposing factors.  One, causes us to question and doubt.  And even more simply than that, it forces us to stop relying on the One and trust in the falsehood that “we know best.”  It robs us of true freedom, joy and life to the fullest.  The other is not something we can produce or even in and of our self, bring into being.  It is something that the One is crafting and fashioning inside of our hearts and minds.  It is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

The action step that we must take is to be obedient to His still and gentle voice.  The certain foundation that God promises us on the other side of the chasm, is often times unseen.  If we could see it, then it wouldn’t be faith.  So we take a deep breath, lift our chin and maybe even close our eyes…. And we step.  We surrender all control and we fall into the arms of the One who anxiously awaits us on the other side.