When we start to do things God’s way instead of our own, we experience three great benefits.
First, we have peace: ‘Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you’ (Job 22:21 NLT).
Second, we have freedom: ‘Offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits’ (Romans 6:17 TM).
Third, we have power: ‘Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you’ (James 4:7 NKJV).
Stubborn temptations and overwhelming problems are defeated by Christ the moment we surrender. As Joshua approached the walls of Jericho he encountered God, fell down and worshipped, surrendered his plans and said, ‘What does my Lord say to His servant?’ (Joshua 5:14 NKJV). Joshua’s surrender led to a spectacular victory.
Here’s a paradox: victory comes through surrender! Surrender doesn’t weaken us, it strengthens us. Surrendered to God, we don’t have to fear surrendering to anything else. William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, said, ‘The greatness of a man’s power is in the measure of his surrender.’
Eventually everybody surrenders to something. If not to God, we will surrender to the opinions and expectations of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, to our own lusts or ego. We are free to choose whatever we surrender to, but we are not free from the consequences of that choice.
E. Stanley Jones said, ‘If you don’t surrender to Christ, you surrender to chaos.’ The supreme example is Jesus. The night before His crucifixion He surrendered to God’s plan, saying, ‘I want your will, not mine.’ And He is our example!
