For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Whether I turn on the news or just crawl out of bed and pour my first cup of coffee, my life usually doesn’t feel perfect or planned by anyone; let alone by God. Instead, things look chaotic, unexpected, and sometimes even dangerous. But through facing my wife’s cancer, suffering through the pain of our son’s divorce, and the death of a close friend’s small child, I have learned, that God has still been in charge. Even in our most chaotic circumstances, He brought things into order and shone His light on our darkest days. Of course, God is in charge of everyone and everything in the universe, but for those of us who are Christians, God has given us a special assurance because of the cross. God showed us His love and mercy on a hill called Calvary, while Jesus went through His darkest, and most chaotic time, during six hours nailed to that terrible Cross. Now in spite of any situation, God promises us that in every circumstance, that He has good plans for our future and a wonderful hope for us today!
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1 NLT
I love the way that one of my friends opens in prayer at our men’s meeting, saying, “Thank you God for another day that was never promised.” I love it because it reminds me that as I begin my day it is a gift that God has freely given. Whether I am sick or well, able to pay the bills or looking at an overdraft message from the bank, the hours that lie ahead are evidence of God’s grace. I love that prayer because it reminds me of the Hymn, “I Surrender All,”. Full surrender, or as today’s verse says, giving our bodies as a living sacrifice, is the perfect response to God’s grace. It tells us that rather than using our day however we please, an “I surrender all” attitude, is the only way to truly worship God, But to be honest, there are days when I couldn’t sing words like, “worldly pleasures all forsaken,” or, “I will ever love and TRUST Him.” because I like to reserve something for myself. Instead of trusting the hand of God, I rush around trying to do things on my own. Or I decide that there are a few worldly pleasures that I deserve and when the Holy Spirit convicts me by speaking in His still small voice, I turn down the volume and plow ahead with my own plans. But God in His great mercy and faithfulness has a way of getting our attention when we stray. Just like sheep who wander far from home and get tangled up in thorns or stuck at the bottom of a pit, we discover that our way was not so great after all and that maybe God was right. What a blessing that when we have fallen, we have a Good Shepherd. Though He has been seeking us all along, He has had to wait for us to stop our struggling, and surrender to His will, Then He begins to untangle us from the mess we made. In surrender we make the amazing discovery that once we give up our demand to be large and in charge, Jesus begins His work of restoration and healing. His plans and calling are far better than anything we could think or imagine, but He awaits our surrender to Him, as He surrendered Himself for us.
I love the fact that Billy Graham called this hymn one of his favorites, because during the time when he attended what today is called, Trinity Bible College, not far from where we live, Judson De Venter, who wrote the hymn, often preached at the school. The full surrender that God had planned for Billy Graham, continues to impact the lives of millions of people around the globe. We will probably never gain a worldwide reputation as Billy Graham did, but when we release our grip on our desires, our homes and even our finances, God will begin to use them in ways far beyond anything we could imagine, as a blessing in the lives of others and then lead us into a deeper walk with Him.
All to Jesus I surrender All to him I freely give I will ever love and trust him, In his presence daily live I surrender all - I surrender all All to thee, my blessed Savior - I surrender all Judson Van De Venter 1896
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