A crash course in surrender
Jeremiah 29:11 “’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and to not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
About two years ago God allowed circumstances into our life that caused us to evaluate what and whom we were living for. It seemed that we had been surrounding ourselves with our agenda, with our desires, and with our own plans. Don’t get me wrong, we were still believing in and loving God, serving Him in ministry…doing all the good things Christians do…but something was missing, something was wrong. We were brought to a point in our lives where, for the first time as a couple, we surrendered fully and unconditionally to the Lord. Many times throughout our walk with Jesus we have said, “I give it all to you”, but it was always conditional: “I won’t give up this…”, “so long as it doesn’t involve that…”, etc. This time was different…we were humbled and emptied, together saying to God “not our will but yours”. We truly desired to know God’s purpose and plan for our lives after so long living out our own plans.
Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
It was like an epiphany: Our lives are not our own! God paid for our lives with His Son’s blood…He bought our lives at a steep cost. Whatever He desired for us, however we could be used for His kingdom…that we would do. It was life changing and utterly transforming, as we began to see our everyday life held up against the eternal. It is amazing the changes in your priorities and decision making when viewing heaven as your true home, this world as your temporary assignment and when your purpose is to know God and to make Him known! It was at this point that we began to feel a funny feeling that was either a call to missions or a case of indigestion. (it was hard to tell at the beginning because missions sounded so scary it made us nauseous)…We began to pray for discernment…God are you telling us that this is what your plans are for us, to go halfway around the world to share the hope of Christ?
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