It was a funny video. It showed unique ways of pulling out a tooth.
One was to tie a length of thread around the tooth and tie the other end to a toy train. When the train moved it pulled off the tooth.
Another is tying one end of a string around a baseball, so once the batter hits the ball, out pops the tooth, too.
But nothing beats the old school way of a child actually pulling out the tooth of her sister using her hands. It was a big victory for her when she did it!
Whatever the method, it was successful because of one factor: the child was willing to have her tooth pulled out.
Willingness. Obedience. Surrender. Trust.
You are willing to obey and even surrender yourself to the situation you need to overcome with people you can trust.
What about putting your life in God’s hands? Would the willingness come as easily as those children in the video wanted their teeth pulled out?
Noted writer Rick Warren wrote that surrendering your life means:
Following God’s lead without knowing where He’s sending you;
Waiting for God’s timing without knowing when it will come;
Expecting a miracle without knowing how God will provide; and,
Trusting God’s purpose without understanding the circumstances.
These were hard acts for me to follow years back. I became a widow when I was 35 years old. I was used to “running the show” on my own— making plans, deciding and then executing them.
There were even times I did things myself because I didn’t trust anyone to do it.
With me in charge, I thought everything will be successful. Other people may not do it well for me.
And when I heard suggestions or comments, I’d freak out. No, my plan has to be followed. It was hard to listen to what other people had to say.
But one day I just found myself needing to stop acting as if I was the master of my fate. My plans were not working. And the last recourse is to bend my knee, pray and cry out before God.
If only I went to God as a first recourse and not the last.
Surrender is not a matter of us losing control over our lives when letting God IN.
God is IN us! So it should be our first act to call out to Him to work things OUT. I like the way one author put it: “Surrender doesn’t let God in. It really kicks us OUT.”
We must say to God, “Make my life whatever You want it to be,” and not what I think it ought to be.
I remember when I thought I alone was responsible for bringing my plans to fruition– get married, then live happily far away from a dysfunctional family. But my husband died. I had three very young children to feed.
The knee-jerk reaction of people who don’t have a surrendering spirit is anger. I was angry at God. In my bitterness I told Him where are the good plans You said You’d give to anyone who follows You? Why take someone dear to me and make me miserable?
Then in one prayer session I was attending (I was drawn to this gathering in my misery), I felt God whisper to me to be still and know that He is God who controls every thing… that whatever is happening, He will still have His way regardless of what I try to do…that His ways are perfect and much truer than mine.
I cried unabashedly and then felt peace. I was shedding my pride and surrendering myself to Him. I felt small before God at that moment. I wasn’t in control after all.
That night in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus not only cried but He agonized over God’s plan that He would meet His death soon that he sweated drops of blood. He asked God to “take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want Your will, not mine” (Mark 14:36). It was the ultimate example of self-surrender.
And if Jesus, son of God, was able to do this humbly, who are we, mere mortals, to act as if we own the world?
God loves and honors a life that is surrendered to Him, and He rewards that life with the greatest fulfillment you could ever imagine.
I thank God for the many blessings that have come to me after I relinquished to Him my entire self – including my inadequacy and perceived ability. It is an unconditional surrender to God and He has given me a happy and contented life even amidst problems and challenges.
When I let go and let God work, He is the one seen in and through me. And that is real power. Not me but Him. And with Him, it’s always good and perfect!
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
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