“No Retreat, No Surrender!?”

"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day." ~ Genesis 32:24

Surrender, that word in itself is scary. I mean come on, that means we lose control of something. I desire to control everything in my life; I desire it to the point that I will actually be upset for three weeks if I don’t have control. That very desire is what hinders the child of God from receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit in their life. “Lord, deliver me from me” is a prayer we can pray, but I assure you, it’s not a prayer we want to see accomplished. The will of God is mysterious, because it involves us surrendering our will in order to find, discover and have the full capability by His Spirit to fulfill it. Gods plan for your life is that you lose control of it. Sometimes God will even allow “crazy situations” into your life to show you that you aren’t in control in the first place.

Sometimes, we get so used to cooking our own food that we actually start thinking we can run our own life. We run to the store to get something to prepare, we put our hand on the pot handle, stir and wait, we have a little control. That very desire is something we covet, we rebel when we don’t have control, and we fight it. Jacob was someone who didn’t quite experience the fullness of Gods will in his life until he realized “hey, I don’t want to give up control of my life.” Jacob was wrestling with God, who’s going to win; God says “your will or Mine?” Is Gods will really what we want? Not immediately, but inwardly, yes. Sometimes we have our mind set, “at 25 I’ll be married and have children” and here it is, you are 32 with a child and no husband, we think “how’d that happen?” Well, the truth is, sometimes we don’t always get what we want. God wants us to come to that place of surrender; there is something you must surrender too. It’s not going to be something small, “give up drinking water for a week” it’s going to be a big desire of your heart. It’s tough, it’s almost impossible and such painful situations will come as a result of not doing it. Like Jonah we can run or we can finally yield like Jacob and become Israel. Your “name” change or “life change” is based on your surrender level. It’s tough, but it’s valuable. One day you will look back and think “thank God I finally yielded!” Yield that desire to God today. I love you! God Bless!

Father, I come to You in Jesus Name, thankful for the will of God, even though I don’t always desire it because it causes me to let go of things. Lord, I present myself to You, show me those things I must let go of to have the life change that You desire to give me. Lord, I ask You to help me yield it, Lord, I ask You to toughen the grip You have if I won’t. Help me to see, maybe this suffering I am facing is because I won’t yield this desire to You, maybe the trouble is a message to give to You what You want, myself, all of myself and not half. Lord, speak to me today and help me understand You more and better. I thank You for this in Jesus Name! AMEN!