Chosen Grace

As we end the month of August, let’s find hope with this post today. Happy reading!

I must admit that this past week has been one of preparation for me. I am preparing to start a new work role (glory to God!!) while at the same time preparing for what is to come.

And while I have to physically prepare, Abba has also had me doing spiritual preparations as well. In other words, He’s been pruning me in order to produce more fruit (John 15). ] Now, I’ve been in pruning seasons with the Lord before, but this time around is especially unique. Why? Because the Lord has called me to surrender fully.

Yep- you read that correctly- I’m called to surrender it all.

And to be honest, this is not a new concept for me. If you’ve been around for a while, you may recall that I’ve talked about surrendering in countless blog posts before.

But this time is different.

It’s different because it’s not just one thing I’m giving up. Nope, that would be too simple. I’ve decided to give up all of me including sins, my will, heart postures, people, ideas about myself, etc.

You see, as a Christian surrendering is a part of our lifestyle. Jesus himself told us that in order to follow him we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses (Matthew 16:24).

While I was familiar with that idea, I did not think that it applied to certain areas of my life. You know, certain attitudes I believed were “just the way I am” and certain habits that didn’t seem like a big deal.

But, upon this revelation the Lord asked me to fully surrender to Him: flaws and all.

And I’ll admit, this scared me. Because I had been used to handling things on my own- how in the world could God handle my mess? I mean, I am a born sinner after all!

God, being patient, led me to the Scripture below:

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

– Psalm 139:10-11, ESV

I love David’s words in this Scripture because he was being honest with his own fears. Which in turn can encourage us to be honest with God too.

As I was telling God all the ways He couldn’t handle my “darkness”: mistakes, thoughts, and attitudes, etc. God was showing me that He is light– and darkness stands no chance in light (John 1:3-5).

You see, in order for us to fully surrender to God, we must first understand WHO it is that we are speaking to. We are not speaking to a God who sits idly or sleeps while we are distressed (Psalm 121:4) Our God is the only true and living God (Jeremiah 10).

While I could put more names of God down, I won’t because the truth is plain: God is exactly who He says He is and He will not change.

This means that when we surrender to God we can rest assured that the same God who encountered Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Ruth, Samuel, David, and Hannah is the same God who we are dealing with today.

Surrendering to that God is the best thing we can do. Why? Because it is He who parted the Red Sea, and He who raised Christ from the dead. And if He can do those large things- surely He can take care of me and you.

If Psalm 139 wasn’t enough to convince me of the Lord’s faithfulness in surrender, He led me to Psalm 55. Let’s check out the verse below:

Cast your burden on the Lord,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

– Psalm 55:22, NKJV

Once again- David’s words can inspire us!

According to Chaim Menorah: Hebrew Word Study , the word “cast” is not an option. God is commanding us to cast our burdens to Him. Because only He can fully handle them and carry them.

The second part of this verse encourages us that once we follow His command, we will be sustained and we will not be moved. We will be taken care of, we will be helped, and we will be restored.

While I am new at casting every burden to God, I found so much freedom in doing so! No longer do I want to carry things on my own. I don’t wanna hold onto attitudes, beliefs, or actions that often weigh me down. I choose- by faith- to cast them onto Him. And by doing so, I see now that the Lord is a man of His word because after casting down my burdens, I feel more sure that He will do what He said.

I thank God for this assurance, because surrendering can be scary. But once we surrender to God, fear leaves us and peace takes over.

As this blog post comes to an end I want to encourage you to truly surrender to God. Remember, we aren’t surrendering to a false God who is dead or is made of wood or stone. No- our God is ALIVE! He is who He says He is.

Finally, cast your burdens to him! He commands us to! God ain’t playing either- He wants to carry those heavy loads that often times threatens to collapse on our bodies. And if God is our refuge, there ain’t no we we can fall.

Truly surrender today, friends. For God will do just what He said.

With a new application for surrendering,

Malaysia 🙂

P.S: God had His way with this post because I wasn’t even trying to write about this- but He has certainly encouraged me as I wrote. I pray this post encourages you too! Testify in the comments!