Thursday, May 18, 2006

Hands up!

What does it mean to surrender?
What does it mean to fully let go and give up?

As a child I had a jungle gym set in the back yard,
complete with swing and monkey bars. It was awesome!
I used to hang on the monkey bars
as long as I could until my fingers hurt
and my grip gave out. I would drop to the ground
with my hand in a constant gripping pose.
Forarms and fingers were fixed and burning from the lengthy strain.
I couldn't hold on forever, but I sure tried.

Did you ever see the movie Saving Private Ryan?
Remember the scene where Tom Hank's group has to take
out the German gunner. It's their first opposition on the
trek to find Private Ryan and take him off the battle field.
Remember what happens when they surround the gunner?
He realizes that it's useless to fight back. With 5 guns pointed
at him, he drops his weapon and begins to plead for his life.
He surrendered. He stopped fighting.

This thought has been running through my mind recently...
What am I holding onto so tightly that the fingers of my soul
begin to ache and burn?
Why do I wrestle with the Lord?
What of Him do I not trust?

Jesus said to come to Him all who were heavy laden and burdened,
and that He would give them rest. Matthew 11:28-30

What are they burdened with? Could it be that they are burdened with
their own fears and worries and selfish desires?

Try this...go hang from a bar for about 2-3 minutes, heck, 1 minute,
and you'll begin to feel the strain and burning as your grip slowly slips
over the bar. Fight with it...try to hold on...reposition your grip...
Try with all your might, but you will eventually lose your grip and fall.
You can't hold on forever in the physical realm, so why do it in the spiritual?

What is is that you might be wrestling with?
What are you worried about?
What fears are crowding your thoughts and killing your joy?
Do you feel that you are not good enough,
and that you keep making mistake after mistake?
Do you feel like the only light at the end of the tunnel
is a train headed straight for you?
Is there something that you just can't seem to hand over to the Lord?
Are you doubting that He has your best interest?
Do you believe that He can and will fulfill the desires of your heart?
Psalm 37:4

I say let go and surrender. Quit fighting...
drop your weapon and raise your hands!!
Let the Lord work for you instead of you working against Him.
Yeah, it takes time to walk through this process.
It's a renewing of your heart and mind,
and the rewards are so wonderful and freeing!!

He delivered us from the power of darkness and
transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Col. 1:13,14

2 Comments:

Blogger Robert said...

UR back!

Ok, dig this. I have your feed right next to my friend Clint's (crazy) blog feed. And as I passed by the title of your latest post I thought, "no, not Chris too". Then I noticed it was just bible verses. Whew.

BTW: I hope you got the hand signals joke. That wasn't meant to be crude.

1:21 PM  
Blogger Chris said...

Makes sense Lee, but what I was referring to was how we try to make things the way we want them; how we will do things in our own strength instead of letting the Lord take control of situations and rest in His greater will for our lives.

5:05 PM  

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