By Derek Maul
A couple of days ago I used the phrase, “Surrender to God is not about giving up, but about giving over.” Here’s the exact quote from my blog (www.derekmaul.wordpress.com):
“Giving it back to God turns out to be a useful plan for life in general. And I’m talking about surrender rather than resignation. Resignation has to do with giving up, whereas surrender has to do with giving over.”
So Rebekah and I talked about the idea the other day, over our morning coffee ritual. I had just sighed – deeply – about something, and then she had responded with, “Isn’t that the whole idea of surrender to God? Giving over all of our uncertainty and letting go of our need to feel like we’re always in control, then replacing with faith, and belief and the confidence of stepping into God’s promises?”
Whatever it was that I was concerned about didn’t go away, but the cutting edge of my anxiety was replaced with the unmistakable fact of God’s comfort and presence. I didn’t “give up,” but instead I “gave over” the situation to God.
So there are two principles I want to communicate:
•The first is the beauty of walking with God on a day-to-day basis. My confidence in God grows with every step; not God making things necessarily any easier, but God being in things and – consequently – inhabiting the processes with hope and promise.
•The second is the beauty of walking in faith with Rebekah, of having these spiritual conversations as a part of the routine of life. I’ll say it again; we should not imagine our “spiritual life” as distinct from our “life.” Our life is our spiritual life. This must be true of our relationships as well.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
So, peace – the peace that is outside of our traditional human understanding – to all of you on this day – DEREK
