And finally…Part 3–Three Essentials for a Surrendered Life

Thanks for hanging with me through this three-part series on living a surrendered life! If you need to catch up, you can read the full posts here–Part 1 and Part 2. But here is a quick recap…

From Part 1: God is many things we are not: omnipotent, omniscient, immutable, infinite, eternal, sovereign. Although we are called to holiness, what we most often strive for instead is to be like Him in all the ways we are not called to be. God alone is all powerful, yet how often do we attempt to control? He alone holds all knowledge and wisdom, yet how often do we believe we know what is best and have it all figured out? God is the only one qualified for and capable of sovereignty over all things, yet how often do we try to place ourselves on the throne and wrongly pray, “my will be done?”  

From Part 2: We say we love God, but it’s that word ALL in the commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind, that differentiates. The ALL is big. The ALL is everything. ALL means completely, fully, entirely, totally, wholly, absolutely, utterly, thoroughly, in every respect, without reservation or exception. It is all encompassing. Our entire being is to display that we love God. ALL means nothing held back—total surrender. Not easy, but loving God with all that we are simply renders to Him what is due. To love Him with our heart, soul and mind is to aim to love Him as He loves us.

I believe the third essential for living a surrendered life is really a set of instructions for living out the greatest commandment which we looked at in Part 2. How do we love the Lord our God with ALL our heart, soul, and mind? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. ” Proverbs 3:5-6 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart (HEART)
Do not lean on your own understanding (MIND)
In all your ways acknowledge Him (SOUL) 

For me, and I’m betting it’s true for you as well, the hardest part of those verses is the not leaning on our own understanding part. I am really, really good at making and executing plans. I excel at creating expectations. I am systematic and rational, and I thrive when life is orderly and logical. But let’s get real…how often is life orderly and logical? When do our paths proceed just as we planned? How frequently are our expectations of life met? When does everything make sense?

Leaning on our own understanding is an attempt to limit and control a limitless God.  Leaning on our own understanding assumes that we hold all the required knowledge of a situation instead of remembering that He sees what we cannot see and is protecting us from dangers and snares we do not even know await us.  

One of my favorite Bible characters is Joseph. What a life! What a set of circumstances! We have the benefit of his full story and all the enlightenment that hindsight provides, but I believe that Joseph had to have struggled with leaning on his own understanding. Why? Because NOTHING about his life made sense–until Exodus 50:20, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…”  

The thing we must remember is that our story is being written by the same author who wrote Joseph’s. As Paul Tripp says, “Every twist of the plot is for the best. Every turn He writes into your story is right.” Even when we don’t understand it. 

And one day, we too will have an Exodus 50:20 moment. 

How do we live a surrendered life? We truly grasp who God is and who we are not. We stop trying to be God. We love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind by trusting His heart, wisdom, and kindness, and strive to acknowledge Him and give Him glory in all we do. It’s simple. It’s the hardest thing ever. But what peace and freedom and joy there is when we earnestly try because “there is no safer place in all the universe than under the wings of the sovereign, all-wise, all-loving God.” (John Piper)