“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Psalm 26:3 NLT)
What is it about humans that demand certainty before we move forward with or for God? “Show me a sign!” seems to be the cry of our heart before we obey God. Isn’t faith itself our certainty? Isn’t implicit in trust a settled sense of certainty?
Ray Majoran‘s beautiful prayer expresses this sentiment when he writes: “Almighty God, the One who stills the storm and whispers in the wind, You are not a God of chaos but of peace. You hold all things together, even when the world sways and shifts. The frost does not question the morning sun, nor do the trees strain against the mist. They simply exist in the balance You have set. Yet we resist the stillness. We strive, we wrestle, we demand certainty before surrender.
Please refine us, Lord. Make us into people who trust in what is unseen more than what is immediate. A weaned child does not thrash in fear but rests in the presence of their mother. Let our souls be as steady in You. Strip away our obsession with control and our hunger for signs. Break our dependence on what is fleeting, and grow us in what is eternal. You have promised to keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is fixed on You (Isaiah 26:3). Let that promise not just be words we recite but a reality we embody. May our confidence be in who You are, not in how much we understand. Help us to yield to Your voice.”
What if rather than questions, our immediate response to the Lord’s directives became: “Yes, Lord!” When the Lord directs us to make a call, give an apology, right a wrong, pray for someone, invite someone to a meal, stop a habit, develop a new habit – whatever it is, what if our response was an immediate: “Yes, Lord!”
And, of course, I realize there may be questions or clarifications needed, but those come after our obedient heart is surrendered to the Lord’s will, not before. We want all of our questions answered before we surrender to the Lord’s will, as if we believe we have a choice. Choice belongs to those who haven’t yet yielded their will to the Master’s.
Surrender demands clarity of only one thing – Who is Lord? Us or Jesus? When it’s clearly and forever determined that Jesus is Lord and we are not, every other question is answered, at least those related to our obedience. Jesus said in John 10:27: “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.” The clear implication here is – His voice is heard, His sheep respond immediately.
Implicit in our surrender to the Lordship of Jesus is a willingness to allow our will to be conformed to His; our desires to become His desires; our heart’s longings to be found and fulfilled in submission to His heart’s desires for us. Why would we do that? Because He alone knows what’s eternally best for us. We can’t see beyond our own desires, our own longings for self-fulfillment, self-expression, self-exaltation.
So, to place our trust in Christ for eternal life in Him alone by faith alone, we give ourselves fully, without reservation. Jesus then becomes the Master, Owner, and shot-caller in our lives. I didn’t always understand this. I used to think I still had a say in how my life was to be managed, but not until I turned complete management of my life over to the Lord did I finally understand what peace was, what contentment was, what surrender really was. The kind of surrender that results in full certainty.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 