One of our greatest needs is to know that we are loved. Each one of us has to feel certain, deep down in our hearts, that someone loves us, cares for us and has our best interests at heart.
That is how God designed us. He wants us to know that He loves every one of us with a passionate intensity too deep for words.
God created human beings with fellowship in mind - first with Himself, and then with others. But we cannot fully love one another until we have ourselves experienced the love of God. We experience His love when we willingly surrender to His call to be our Savior, Lord, and friend.
There are at least three reasons God seeks our surrender: 1. He loves us and desires our fellowship and worship. So long as we hold something back from God, we cannot know Him completely or fully experience His love. When we surrender to Him, we get all of Him. 2. He wants our service for Him to be effective and fruitful. The more we get to know and love Jesus, the more effective our service will be. The closer we draw to God, the more impact our lives will have. The more energetically we nurture our relationship with the Lord, the greater the positive mark we will leave behind. 3. He waits for the freedom to bless us. God is omnipotent but will not violate His own principles. He draws us to Himself so we can experience His love and forgiveness. He asks for our willing surrender so that He can give us the best blessings He has to offer.
So why do we resist? With all this in mind, why does anyone resist surrendering to God?
Pride is the key reason most people resist surrender. They thing they know better than God and that they can handle their life better than He can, so they keep Him at arm's distance.
Others do not surrender because they fear what God will do (or not do) for them. They think that if they give Him control, He'll make them do exactly what will make them most miserable.
Still others refuse to surrender to Christ because they believe satan's lie, which tells them that God is judgmental and will punish them for their mistakes.
All of this is completely false!! God always has our best in mind. He will refuse us no good things when we gladly submit to His will (Rom. 8:32). He tells us, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jere. 29:11).
It only makes sense to surrender to God, because when we do, we grow close to Him - His highest priority for us - and we begin to have an impact on our world.
Anne Graham Lotz once told an interviewer about the many trials she had faced over the previous years, including her parents' serious illnesses and her son's battle with cancer. She finally came to the point where all she wanted was Jesus. "Just give me Jesus," she declared.
Anne realized that if she had a personal, intimate relationship with the Savior of this universe, then whatever problems she faced, He would fact them with her and He would bring a sweet resolve and a peace to her heart.
Is this the cry of your heart? Do you want to know the Savior and live in the fullness of His blessing each day? You can. David wrote, "those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing" (Ps. 34:10).
If you have drifted in your devotion to the Savior and feel as though you grow more distant each day in your relationship to Him, then pray that He would draw you near once more. He knows your weaknesses, and if you will tell Him that you want Him to take control of your life, He will come to you in a mighty way and bring hope and light to your situation, no matter how dark and hopeless it may feel (Isaiah 55:6, 7).
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