I Surrender... All?

If you grew up in church, you may know the old hymn:

"All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live

I surrender all

I surrender all

All to Thee my blessed Savior

I surrender all"

This catchy tune is easy to get stuck in your head and you may even hum it while you get groceries or pick up your children from school or clean around the house. But, like so many things, the true meaning can get lost.

What does it mean to surrender all?

Surrender the good, the bad, the ugly. Surrender the joy, the pain, the tears, the heartbreak. Surrender your dreams, your family, your relationships. Surrender your job, your future, your past. Surrender everything that you are, everything that you have been, and everything that you will be to God.

Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV) says, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Hold up. What? A living sacrifice. Jesus, are you sure? 

Without going into too much detail (and, let's be honest, I am no Biblical Historian, so I'm not going to pretend that I am), in the Old Testament and under the Old Covenant, animal sacrifices were used as atonement for your sins. Leviticus 1-7 goes into great detail about burnt offerings and what they are used for in case you're interested. But these animal sacrifices are now obsolete because the Lamb of God, holy and perfect, offered himself as the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:14).

To put it simply: Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin and took on the full wrath of God so that we might live for Him.

And yet, I struggle to remember that on a daily basis. I get so caught up in myself that I fail to focus on the One who made me. I see problems and I immediately try to fix them myself instead of fixing my eyes on Jesus. So often, I walk by sight, not by faith. 

Have there been moments in my life where I step out onto the troubled sea and look towards the One that calms them? Yes, there have been. Unfortunately, though, I am more like the rest of the disciples who stayed in the boat. I often retreat back to the places I know are safe instead of stepping out when God calls my name.

I surrender, but only when and what I want to. 

But God calls us to surrender ALL. Everything. To place everything in his more-than-capable hands and trust that He will lead us and sustain us, even through the fiercest storm.

You see, I hide the parts of myself that I don't want to let go of. I hide my hurt and my pain and the places that I think are too unredeemable. I often believe the lies that the enemy plants in my head: "You're weak. You're too insignificant. Your worries don't matter. Jesus has bigger things to deal with."

The truth is that I have believed in God for most of my life, but I haven't believed Him.

If I truly believed Him, then I would have no problem surrendering my life into His hands. I would cherish the opportunity to do so, knowing and believing full well that His plans for me are good. This His plans are to prosper and not harm me, plans for hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). 

I have head knowledge of all of these things, but not true heart knowledge.

Recently I have been relating to the father in Mark 9. When all hope was lost, this father brought his child to Jesus and said, "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." And Jesus said to him, "'If you can!' All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"

And so this is my prayer for me, and for anyone struggling with total surrender. 

"Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. Father God, help me to trust You, trust Your plan, trust Your goodness, trust what You can see that I can't. Help me to trust You with my life, my hopes, my dreams, and my disappointments. Lord, help me to truly surrender all to you, every day. Instill in me a newfound faith and help me to overcome my own unbelief, Lord, so I can start taking You at Your Word. When everything in and around me trembles and quakes, help me look to You, my unshakable God. All to you I surrender, all to You I freely give."

(I made this as a screensaver for my phone to help me to remember to pray continually that I will surrender all to Jesus. If you would like one, either click on the picture and download for yourself or let me know and I'll send it to you!)