SURRENDER IT ALL 

Life hands us weights, most times beyond what we can bear. For as long as you have air in your lungs, you cannot escape the burdens, challenges, and the struggles of life. Christians, however, have an advantage; we have a God who can be anything and everything to us. He can be a Father, He can be a counselor, He can be a teacher and He can be a helper. He helps us to carry the unavoidable burdens that life throws at us.

Beloved, the key to managing the pressures and troubles of your life is to hand them over to the Master.

 

Matthew 11:28-30 says; “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The above verse explains to us that there's an exchange in handing over your concerns, you need not remain attached to your old options, most times God will only exchange your worries with His strength,  so your hands must be empty of your own solutions. 

 

The issues of life may include our struggles against the works of the flesh, how to make ends meet, how to become better in our relationships with others and with God or you might be going through a hurt or believing God for something, all these might leave us worried-sick. Nevertheless, If you have come to Jesus, He assumes the position of a caregiver, and so it becomes His responsibility to make all you need available. This means, He can take the burden of addiction and give you freedom, He can take away lack and give you supernatural supply, He can take fear and anxiety and give you tranquility.

 

The challenge however is that you are likely to make your concerns known to God but as soon as things are not going as you planned or expected them to, you are likely to fret.

This is because maybe you do not trust God completely. Surrendering to God begins with trust. You cannot leave everything about you in the hands of God (Someone you cannot physically see) if you do not already believe in who He is and His capabilities.

God will take over your troubles when you present them to Him and refuse to worry about them anymore. God will give you divine assistance, which could come in form of wisdom, direction, favour, helpers, strength, peace etc. 

 

Proverbs 3:5-7 says; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”

 

This is the only way to explain why you are anxious about how to live uprightly in a dark and perverted generation, how to excel in your academics, and how to rise in your career; you are too calculative and logical in your thinking, and so the ways of God seem slow and illogical to you.

Do you believe that God’s plan is for good? and not for evil? 

Do you believe that everything is under His control and that as long as He remains on His throne, He will continue to make ALL things work together for your good? because you love Him? 

Do you believe Him when He says, “I will never leave your side, I will be with you to the very ends of the earth?

If you do not believe in the authenticity of God’s word, it will be impossible to surrender all to Him.

Your journey of surrendering to God began on the day you accepted Him as your Lord and personal Saviour. On that day, all you said was, “Lord, I acknowledge that I cannot help myself, I do not even know how to walk uprightly but I acknowledge You as my Saviour, and as my Lord who will lead me on the way to go.”

 

You may be wise, but surrendering to God means you acknowledge that God is wiser and so you choose His way. You may know what is good for you, but once you surrender to God, you are acknowledging that He knows what’s best for you and that you will accept His will to be the best and only option you have.

 

It is going to be a struggle because the enemy will not just sit back and watch you come to God and have a smooth walk with Him. Therefore, he tries to inspire you to trust in your ways more than you do in God. But the word of God says, ‘can two walk together unless they are agreed?” So also, you cannot walk successfully with God except you choose His ways.

 

Jesus is Lord over every aspect of your life, but He does not Lord Himself over you. He functions in the areas that you let Him. He does not struggle for ownership with you: the moment you decide to worry about His responsibility towards you as a Father, He stays back and watches you until you can admit that He is the one in control.  

 

For as long as you compartmentalize God, it will be difficult for you to experience a worry-free life. He cannot put something in your hands if your hands are already filled with your options. It is when you’ve given your all in vulnerability to God that He steps in completely.

 

You need to grow from being a babe in Christ who is still struggling to trust God completely to a Son who trusts completely even when it does not make sense. So that when the enemy advertises worry and anxiety, you can courageously tell the enemy that those are no longer your issues to take care of but are now God’s business.

You need to know that whenever you present your issues such as your finances, relationships, work, academics, health, and addictions to God, you are most likely to experience more pressure in these areas. The aim of this is to push you to lose your Faith in God. Nevertheless, if you persist and ignore the increased pressure, you are going to grow into a greater measure of trust in God and your level of dependence on Him will increase. Because the devil at all times wants to test your Faith, to know if what you said is lip service.

 

Just like the popular saying goes; Nothing grows in the comfort zone. So, the stones the enemy throws at you should rather become your stepping stones. Let every situation that demands your leaning on your understanding rather propel you into praying for the grace to trust and follow God all the more. That way, you will grow from a babe into a Son. 

Remember that when you have laid everything before God, you’re not expected to worry over the same issues anymore because that would mean that you’re still in control. Give God His rightful place today, let Him worry about how to fend for you, you will be at peace.

 

When God is in charge, you can rejoice in and out of season knowing that He can never make a wrong decision and that He’s got your back.

 

Do you desire to relieve yourself of the burdens you have carried? Then, say this prayer with faith in your heart:

 

Gracious Father, I come before You in humility, I acknowledge You as the Lord of my life; I do not lean on my understanding because it is foolishness in Your sight.

Jesus, I lay every burden at Your feet. I believe You can give me rest from all of my struggles.

I ask that You teach me to bear Your yoke, which You said is light, and let my only concern be to align with Your will.

I present...(mention the issues that are of great concern to you at this moment) 

I surrender all to You; I am no longer in control of these issues anymore, I refuse to worry, I refuse to fret about them. I lay down my worries, I surrender my fears, and I receive Your joy and Your peace that supersedes all human understanding.

I ask that You give me absolute tranquility amidst the storms of life, and help my heart to be still so that I may know that You are God. I receive Your strength and Your wisdom. 

Thank you, for taking over my battles, in Jesus‘ glorious name I pray. 

Amen!

 

Meditate on these verses:

Psalms 55:22, Philippians 4:19, Isaiah 55:8