The Habit of Surrendering
By Eric Mattie
Eric preaches, teaches and serves as a lay elder in his local church and writes regularly at For1Glory.com. He and his wife Melanie live in La Crosse, Wisconsin and have three adult children.
In his new book Killing Sin Karl Clauson, writes:
The voice of God is never heard in the clamor of our striving, but God’s whisper is heard at the moment of our complete surrender.
I have tended to believe joining God means doing more stuff for Him. Things like public charity, social good works, ministry-minded and eternally valued deeds. While I agree there is a place to embrace God’s call to us to do good work (Ephesians 2:11), be a light in darkness (Ephesians 5:8), and be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13) I can’t allow my daily striving to replace my daily surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus in my life.
Karl continues,
The root of all our sins is that something or someone is taking the place of God. When God is pushed to the margins in any area of your life, sin will begin to take root. Self-pleasing and people-pleasing need to be uncovered for what they are—cheap substitutes for God.
There are times when doing things for God can replace our worship of God. We need to pray the Psalmist’s most daring prayer to hear the most honest whispers of God’s convicting and empowering words.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!“ (Psalms 139:23–24)
Surrender doesn’t come swiftly. It is a habit of humility we need to cultivate. This is why we are called to surrender daily. The good news for us is that God’s mercies are new every morning, His love is everlasting and His empowering grace is never exhausted. Surrendering to God’s watchful eye over our hearts, His discerning Spirit over our thoughts, and His authoritative commands to put our ways in check is the way to bring the Lord back into the spotlight from the margins of our lives.
However, this is a moment-by-moment grace that doesn’t come easily to our selfish wills and divided hearts. It isn’t easy to slow down and surrender to the Voice of correction. It isn’t easy to surrender when our spirits are agitated with frustration, worry, and blocked goals.
We can pray “Lord, your will be done”. But then we come out of our prayer closets and deal with sinful humans. All the time. Everyday. Including ourselves.
Letting Jesus in through surrender and submission, allows for the healing work of His truth and Spirit to plunge a dagger into our self-righteous behavior and place God properly on the throne of our hearts.
So, are you ready to stop striving? Would you dare to start the habit of surrender with such a prayer and hear what God says?
Start today!
You can purchase your copy of Karl’s new book, Killing Sin: Conquer the One Thing That Is Defeating You, right here.