"God's design is to guide us into the future He's planned for us; to meet our needs and bring us into blessing and fulfillment." Kathy Spampinato

The word surrender gives us a mental image of giving up, and experiencing defeat. It describes ceasing resistance to an enemy or opponent, and submitting to their authority. I would like to suggest that surrender can describe a very different scenario when talking about abandoning yourself entirely to the care and influence of God Himself.

As I was greeting God this morning, and wondering what was on His agenda for me today, the words of the hymn "I Surrender All", came to mind. They were written by Judson W. Van De Venter in 1896, but are still relevant today.

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

Refrain:

I surrender all, I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

Our definition talked about "resisting an enemy or opponent", but God is our creator and the lover of our soul. When we think of God as our opponent we are going against our created purpose and trying to control our lives in willful rebellion, although we may not call it that. Let's remind ourselves of God's agenda with the following verses.

Jeremiah 29:11-14a ESV "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes."

God's design is to guide us into the future He's planned for us; to meet our needs and bring us into blessing and fulfillment. When we decide to run our lives our own way and be the one in control, we are taking ourselves out of the process of seeking and hearing from God. We decide to walk in our own authority and be the boss. The only problem with that, is that we're not very good at it, since we were designed to follow like trusting children.

Matthew 28:18-20 'And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

God's overall intent is to have us collaborate with Him in the Great Commission of spreading the Gospel. Our part is only revealed in the surrender of our willfulness and in seeking His voice and His will. Then we will discover our joy and purpose. We will learn that God knows our heart and our abilities and has tailormade a life of fulfillment, accomplishment, achievement, fruitfulness and contentment. How will we discover the desires of our hearts and the fulfillment of our dreams? The words of Psalm 37 can bring us clarity.

Psalm 37:3-6 "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday."

When we resist God's direction and care for us, we are putting ourselves into slavery to the enemy and taking the throne that belongs to God. It is a frustrating and painful journey. My friend, it is time to surrender your heart to God's plan. He will not only meet your needs, but nurture your gifts, surround you with love, bring you healing, and fill your life with His abundant blessings. It takes some seeking to discover the path and to stay with it. You might need to check in with Holy Spirit quite a bit more often than you used to. Open up your heart and talk to Jesus. He's been waiting to talk with you.