Saturday, July 26, 2008

"Surrender"

I had to LOOK to find this for you. My friend, Linda, shared months ago that she looks for a "princple" or "word" from God for each year, rather than making New Year's Resolutions. I KNEW I read this on her blog, and I was SURE I remembered her word was "rest".....and there you go - I found it. Click the link above (word this) and you can read her thoughts which are shared much more eloquently than I could do.

Reading her entry was one of those "ah" moments for me. Mike prays for a "word" or "vision" for the chapel each year. I'd slid into the practice, but hadn't really put it into words. I knew that the fall had trended to being a time of evaluation for me and that God seemed to give me a glimpse of what we would be working on and walking through each year. In recent years it's been: "Extravagant Love for God", "Love for Others", "Choose Joy", "New Thing", "Yet" (Habakkuk 3:16-19)...If you are a frequent blog reader you're probably able to remember these themes woven into the blog...after all the blog really is simply a glimpse into our family life through my eyes.

After reading Linda's entry, I realized that God had been taking me on much the same journey - without me KNOWING it. ::snort:: I am a "goal setter" and believe that is good - though I began to realize my goals needed to be much more grace filled...and slowly transitioned to realizing that what I needed was not a list of goals/resolutions for the year...but a sense of God's leading and direction for my personal walk. As I said, I'd slid into the practice that Linda shared over the course of years. This year the word I "thought" was for me was "contentment/surrender". I could never figure out which one word it was and so haven't said much. Seven months into the year I'm fairly certain I can say that it's been both for this year! They "go together". I won't keep obsessing about "one word". ::snort:: My words for the year, the principles and path that God is forming deeper in my spirit this year are contentment and surrender.

This is where God has taken me this year. It's a good journey and maybe I'll share near the end of the year. If you've been following along with me on the journey this year, you can pin point areas where God has led me to surrender and walk in contentment (which has always seemed like apathy and namby pamby pablum to me before this year). ::snort::

For today......the song below is worth the listen. If you don't have time to listen ~ maybe you can glance through the lyrics.




Sanctus Real - Whatever You’re Doing
From the album We Need Each Other

It’s time for healing, time to move on,
it’s time to fix what’s been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong;
it’s time to find my way to where I belong

Chorus:
There’s a wave that’s crashing over me, and all I can do is surrender
Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there’s peace
And it’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see, but I’m giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone, time to begin again, re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will or just climbing aimlessly over these hills?
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything – I surrender

Chorus:

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out that I’ve wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but I believe …
You’re up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life
Something heavenly, something heavenly

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

Label: Chordant (EMI)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, De'Etta. How this ministered to me this morning. Satisfaction, surrender, contentment...each lesson I'm learning along with you.
Love,
Melanie in CA

Anonymous said...

Very nice.

Choosing to be content in my circumstances has been heavy on my mind again recently. I've been tempted (irrationally driven) many times in the past 5 years to chuck it all (even tried), cut all ties and run to parts unknown...then I realize there is no place I may go which my Lord doesn't know. On the days I choose to surrender to Him, only then I am content in my circumstances, as I remember they are of His sovereign design, tailor made for me.

Anonymous said...

Sis: you are right.... no real way to seperate contentment and surrender. What a journey that can sometimes prove to be but it is always neat when looking back to see all the Lord has done.

The years when you kids were becoming more independent and/or leaving home is when Dad/I really had a hard time. BUT PTL you have all done so good and we PTL for how you and your spouses have allowed God to use you all.

l/p Mom T

Cynthia said...

I LOVE that song.... it was particularly meaningful to me during all of the trials of co-op this year.