But then I was faced with no job, no income and empty cupboards. I believed the myths that such people were lazy and unwilling to work. I used to be judgmental about people who received public assistance. Those were tough experiences but what came out of them was more compassion and understanding. I struggled with that for about two years. I finally did get a job but it paid a very low salary and I had no benefits. For a year and a half I had no job and no income. In 2010 the last church I pastored closed and I wasn’t assigned to another church. I haven’t gotten everything I wanted and I have suffered. I’m afraid that following God’s will means a lot of suffering and not getting anything I want. I struggle with giving myself totally to God because I’m not always sure His way is the best way. As we say in the church, we truly make Jesus the Lord of our lives. We submit everything, our lives, desires, dreams, thoughts, to the authority of Christ. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”To be a living sacrifice is to give ourselves completely to God. Who does?īut a true disciple of Christ must surrender all to Him. I don’t want to experience anything like that. Then the people are subjugated, oppressed. The winners come into the losers’ land and and take what they want. The losing side, after being nearly destroyed lays down its arms and yields to the winning side. Most of the time I associate surrender with war.
It means to give up your will, possessions and desires and to come under another’s control. To surrender means to submit to another’s authority. For me the struggle comes because of the meaning of the word. I struggle with freely giving all to Jesus. But to tell the truth I struggle with surrendering all. It’s easy to be sincere during the Sunday worship service.
It seems like they really mean what they’re singing. They raise their hands in the air and lift their faces to heaven with tears streaming down them. I’ve seen people really worship when singing these songs. The second set of lyrics are from an old hymn. It’s also been sung in my church a few times. The first set of lyrics are from a worship song that is played on gospel radio stations quite a bit. Verse 1 and refrain from hymn “I Surrender All” Lyrics from “Withholding Nothing” by William McDowell “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23