God: Adrienne, what would it be like if you fully surrendered?
Me: I don’t know
I continue driving to work
I wish this was not a real conversation with God…but it was.
I wish it only happened once…but He asked me this question many times.
I wish I asked God back then what would happen…but I didn’t.
For a long time, God asked me this question after dropping my kids off at daycare and heading to work. I’m thankful that God loved me enough to keep asking. My initial times ignoring Him did not stop his love or purpose.
Do you know that God is not trying to figure out when you and I will say yes?
Last week, I preached a 7 minute sermon on Luke 23:46 as part of our 7 Last Words on the Cross service. Jesus final words before breathing his last breath was, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
While studying, I found myself stuck on how much Jesus trusted His Father. He trusted the plan of God despite the suffering it would require.
By committing his spirit, Jesus was entrusting his spirit, his very life, into the care and protection of His Father. He trusted him in heaven. He trusted him when he came to earth knowing his assignment was to die for our sins. He trusted God when it meant being forsaken or separated as he paid the price for our sins.
In the most difficult time of his earthly life, Jesus trusted His Father.
Jesus entrusts his life to his Father from beginning to end. Even as he commits his spirit, Jesus knows this is part of laying down his life to pick it up again three days later.
In basketball, coaches run scenarios in practice to simulate the end of a game. What do you do when down 2 with 5 seconds left? Up 1 with 10 seconds left. Tied score with 30 seconds left.
The coach cannot predict the score for a game or when the scenario will be needed. But the coach wants players prepared when a similar situation happens.
Sometimes I treat God like a coach who doesn’t know what will happen instead of the all knowing God.
While coaches try to prepare you for what might happen, God knows exactly what will happen. He didn’t just know the plan and purpose for Jesus, but He knows the plan and purpose for our lives. The exact plan and the results for eternity.
We can entrust God with our lives now and not just in eternity. I’ve learned and experienced great comfort in surrendering to God.
And when God asked me the question, he knew the answer. The more I spend time with God in his word and prayer, the more I realize surrendering is easier.
So now I want to pose the question to you…What would it be like if you fully surrendered?