The Peace of Surrender

I've learned a lot this past week-about God, about giving everything to Him, about praying without ceasing.

God is great, guys. Seriously.

I'm going to start with one of the Bible verses about praying without ceasing.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ."
 -Thessalonians 5:16-18

The bible verse starts out saying "Rejoice always". Always. It doesn't mean rejoice and give praise to the Lord only when things go the way we want them to. It says always. That means even when things are going exactly the opposite of how you want them to; when things seem to be falling apart. Rejoice in the Lord because He is good always! The circumstances of this world do not change the Lord's love for you or His glory. He has a plan for us and even when it doesn't seem good to us, it is. His plan is a plan to prosper you and not to harm you.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

 Always. No matter what. So give glory and rejoice in Him always! For He knows what's best. I'm not by any means saying it's easy; it's not. It's impossible for us to do it on our own. And that comes to the second point in the Bible verse. "Pray continually". This doesn't mean to say your "bedtime prayers". It means to pray without stopping- which can be confusing. I'm sure I don't fully understand what that means, but I've kind of grasped at least somewhat what that means.

 The Lord is our friend. He's the only friend you can completely and 100% trust. You can tell Him absolutely everything and He'll be there to listen and help you. It means when you're hurt, you give it to Him(Pray). When someone says something that angers you, you give it to Him(Pray). You feel alone, you give it to Him(Pray). Life seems to be falling apart, you give it to Him(Pray). Life is wonderful, you give it to Him(Pray). No matter what the circumstances or how you're feeling you give it to Him(Pray). You talk to the Lord. Because He is there, to listen and to help you; to take your burdens and your suffering.


The third point from that verse is that you give thanks to Him in all circumstances, which I kind of stated above. This one is a hard one for me because I have been fortunate to not have so many "bad" circumstances in my life and because of that I feel I'm not really the greatest person to give advice in this area. But I know it is so much harder to give thanks when things are hard. I have a hard time giving thanks in MY "hard times", which don't compare to some other people's lives- people who have so many physical hardships in this life.

No matter what circumstances you're in though, it does not  change God's love for you. This life is such a small part of eternity, and your suffering will not last forever,as terrible as it may be. And I'm not trying to make light of anyone's suffering just because I don't understand it, and maybe I don't have any "right" to say anything. I may not be able to give advice in this area or understand personally, but God understands. Read His word. Pray. He has the answers to everything. All I know is what God says, and He says to trust Him and give praise to him no matter what. With that complete surrender to Him comes a peace that is incredible. We have no reason to doubt Him or to question Him. The world doubts Him, and when we give in to that doubt we're conforming to the worlds' views. Satan's lies.

"Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good and perfect will."
-Romans 12:2 

The rest of the world is so empty. Living without God is so empty. So many people are  just living their lives to please themselves and doing what makes them happy. It may seem like those in the world have such a full, happy life with no worries about having to please an "angry" and "demanding" God. They're free, right? Wrong. They are imprisoned by these things. It's not freedom. The things of this world will not last. Nothing in this world will last. Our things, our world, our physical bodies; they will eventually all be gone. And those who only have these things, and refuse God, what will they have? Nothing. It's so sad to me that people are going on with their lives and trying to fill that emptiness with "things". Whether those things are material-(Clothes, phones, toys, cars.) or other people, work, or money-whatever it may be. Nothing will ever fill the void they have in themselves; Nothing except for God. His grace, His forgiveness, His love, It is everlasting.

I pray for those who don't know His love; not only because those who don't accept His love and forgiveness won't have eternal life in heaven. That, yes, is obviously a huge thing, but also because they have to live in this world without His peace and His love. I cannot imagine my life without Him. I couldn't do it. Life is a struggle because of our sin already and to have to struggle alone; I can't imagine. I don't want that for anyone.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you where ever you go."
-Joshua 1:9 

Be strong in the Lord. Put all of your struggles, your worries, your doubts in His hands. It is so hard but it is also so easy. (That makes complete sense, right? Haha.) We're constantly struggling with our own sin and it's constantly telling us we can do it on our own. If you just do this or that you'll succeed on your own.  Satan is constantly whispering these lies in our ears and trying keep us from turning to God. Don't listen to Him.

God is there. He is always there, and will always be there. Sometimes it doesn't seem like it. Trust me. I was recently struggling with what I thought was God ignoring me. I felt so far away from Him. I felt like I had disappointed Him and He was ignoring me. I felt so far from Him. How wrong I was. He was there. He was patiently waiting for me to just give it all to Him. I thought I had! I told myself "Sure, I've given my cares to Him." as I continued to hold onto them, and tried to hide them from Him. I struggle with anger. I hold onto it and I hold grudges for way too long. I'm ashamed of it. But even though I was ashamed of it, I still refused to give all of my anger over to Him, and kept on being angry with people. It's still a struggle, and it's probably something I'll always struggle with, but He will always be there to take it from me. I just have to completely surrender myself to Him. I don't really know how to explain it other than that; complete surrender. I had heard that a million times before but it never really clicked until recently.

I pray that God opens the eyes and the hearts of whoever is reading this, because I want you to feel the peace that comes with the surrender. It's amazing! God is amazing! I ask that my friends and family who read this will remind me of this in my weakest moments; when I give in to the anger and my sin. Please hold me to what I've said; hold me to God's words. Because I don't want to forget what it feels like to be completely at peace. I don't want to go back to how things were. No matter what struggles I go through, I know God will always be there to listen to them and will be there to take the weight off my shoulders.

 If you're struggling with things or your life seems to be falling apart, I promise it isn't because God is mad at you or because He's ignoring you. These worldly struggles are only a tiny fragment of time compared to eternity, and if this "speck" of pain in this world will lead you to Him and his eternal love and eternal life in heaven, then it is ultimately for good. God uses this worlds' struggles to lead you closer to Him, because the harder things are, the more we need Him. And if we choose to rely on him in it all ,we will be that much closer to Him! In the end, when we're in eternity, the things of this world will not matter. I pray that you realize that now and that you repent of your sins, give your cares to Him and are able to feel His love and the peace that comes with it. Because God is there for you, waiting with open arms. You just have to surrender to Him and accept Him.