If you’ve been reading my blogs the last few weeks, you know I’ve been writing about running the race set before us, based on the scripture from Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV . Has there ever been a time in your life when you didn’t feel like you were running a race?
If you work an 8-5 job, Monday through Friday, you are just trying to get to the weekend. Parents often run between home, school, sports and home again. Not to mention the daily race for the kids to complete their homework by the end of the night. And my friends, struggling with illnesses, tend to be running from doctor to doctor. I feel like that hamster on a wheel, ready to wave the white flag and surrender. Little did I know, surrender is the key to finishing the race set before us.
As I fix my eyes upon Jesus, the Author and perfecter of my faith, I model his life into my own in an attempt to finish my race. As he teaches me to trust and obey God, I see the key ingredient for Jesus is surrender. If I am going to do it like he did it, then I must be willing to surrender as well.
Have you ever had to surrender to someone? If you are competitive like me, surrender is a hard thing. It invokes feelings of defeat, loss and even weakness. Admitting there might be a better way and agreeing to do it that way is a huge act of trust. Jesus shows us the way. Hear God. Trust God. Obey God. In Jesus’s obedience to Father, he surrendered his will to the Will of God. In that surrender, he fulfilled God’s plan not only for himself but for us all, thus giving us the greatest act of love ever recorded.
Jesus struggled with this plan and pleaded with God. We see this in Luke 22:42 NIV. when Jesus says, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” In his obedience, he surrendered, trusting God had a better way. Jesus did not understand it but he did not have to. His trust in God, his obedience to the Father and his surrender to God’s will is the very reason we can rejoice today.
Trust and obey, for there is not other way…
As you think about how Jesus finished his race, think about your own race. Are there areas in your life God is asking you to trust Him? Are there places where God is calling you to be obedient? Can you trust God enough to surrender to His will? It could be your life, a new ministry idea or a relationship that needs reconciling. Where is God asking you to trust Him today? Let us pray.
Dear Lord, help me to trust you in all areas of my life. In Jesus Name, Amen. -M
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