“Surrender is the safest and best place to be.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – May 21, 2023
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” Luke 9:23-24
Yesterday was a “bookend crying day.” I began the day crying to Jesus when I spent my quiet time with Him, and I ended the day the same way it started: in tears.
During my quiet time in the morning, a scripture jumped off the page:
2 Corinthians 5:15 says, “As he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
Through this verse, the Lord reminded me that as a believer, I am to live for Him. Then, He gently convicted me about an attitude I have had for quite some time about a particular wrong someone has done to me that has brought pain into my life. It’s not something I can change; it’s something I must allow to change me as I surrender to Christ. Then, the trial will not be in vain.
I can say Jesus is my Lord, but if I hold onto my anger, and if I purposely harbor bad feelings, I am not doing as 2 Corinthians 5:14 says. I am not living for Him. I am simply living for myself—and therefore, I am not honoring Jesus as the Lord of my life. I am only giving His Lordship lip service. For Him to be Lord, I must forgive, give the problem to Him, and give up the right I feel I have to be angry. This doesn’t mean I say what has been done is okay. I don’t deny the injustice of it. But I let the Lord have it, and I give the person and the wrong to Him.
So, I cried in repentance and asked Jesus to forgive me. I want to be the kind of woman who no longer lives for herself but lives for Jesus, even though I do it imperfectly. I want to surrender my entire life to Him.
Later at night, the Holy Spirit continued to convict me about surrendering even more. So, I opened my heart and my spiritual hands to all I haven’t given to Him, where He isn’t Lord over my life.
I named all the people, desires, and places that I hold tightly. I gave Him my future and my past, my dreams, and desires. I named my idols one by one and told Jesus He could have them all—and I cried and sobbed.
And then, when my tears stopped, something wonderful happened: I experienced divine peace. When I told Him He could be Lord over all that I named—and I meant it—a weight lifted off me. Since He is Lord over my life, then I no longer need to try to be lord over my life. Surrender is not losing. It’s giving in to be relieved of the stress of carrying our own burdens. It’s giving God His rightful place as King. Surrendering to Him is the safest and best place to be.
Is there something in your life that you need to release? Is there a dream, desire, attitude, possession, job, relationship, or anything else that you need to allow Him to be Lord over? What do you need to surrender? Give your entire life to Him today. You’ll be glad you did.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Prayer
Lord, I give my entire life to you. I surrender to you and give you your rightful place as King and Lord over my life. Amen.
Application
Get away to a quiet place and ask the Lord what you need to surrender to Him. Tell Him that He can have it all. Let go and let Him be Lord.
Related Reading
Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:34; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Worship Resource
Hillsong Worship: I Surrender
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