“I Surrender All…”

Oftentimes, during Sunday Morning Worship, we often sing the hymn, I Surrender All. Some of the lyrics are:

“All to Jesus I surrender; all to him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust him, in his presence daily live.

Chorus:

I surrender all, I surrender all,

All to thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh354.sht

Surrender is defined as: “to agree to stop fighting, hiding, resisting, etc., because you know that you will not win or succeed: to give the control or use of (something) to someone else; to allow something (such as a habit or desire) to influence or control you; to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand; to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another; to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner; to give (oneself) over to something (as an influence); to give oneself up into the power of another; yield”   http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surrender

As soon as I can surrender the notion of being who I thought I was or want to be, then the Lord can transform me into who HE created me to be…

Even dealing with health challenges has become very eye-opening regarding surrender. I often recite Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all our ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” I am learning to surrender this challenge over to GOD…stop trying to understand it or rationalize it… and allow him to use it to help draw others to HIM.

I often tell my mentor, dear friend, and minister, Bro. David Jones, Jr.: “You are an ordinary man, who surrenders himself to allow God to do EXTRAORDINARY things with you and through you.”

Surrendering is closely related to trust. I have this childhood image of falling backward (surrendering control) and trusting a friend or classmate to catch me. I have to surrender and TRUST GOD to catch me. This proves difficult for someone like me who has “control issues.”  However, life’s circumstances have helped me clearly see that I am in control of nothing and that GOD CONTROLS EVERYTHING.

I have this dream of me driving a car down the highway, going where I want to go, when I want to, and because I want to. I suddenly am compelled to turn my blinkers on and pull over to the side of the road. I come to a screeching halt…put it into PARK…pull up the emergency brake…take off my seat belt…let go of the steering wheel…and quietly move to the back seat. I put my seat belt on, waiting patiently. JESUS takes the wheel, looks back at me with a smile, and says, “Now, we can begin our journey…”

As the hymn says, “I surrender all, I surrender all, All to thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”