July 17

Psalms 37:7
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

Mark 14:36
36 “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Surrendering your life means:

1) Following God's lead without knowing where he's sending you; 2) Waiting for God's timing without knowing when it will come; 3) Expecting a miracle without knowing how God will provide; 4) Trusting God's purpose without understanding the circumstances.

You know you're surrendered to God when you rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda, and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don't have to always be in charge. Instead of trying harder, you trust more.

The supreme example of self-surrender is Jesus. The night before his crucifixion Jesus surrendered himself to God's plan. He prayed, "Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine." (Mark 14:36 NLT)

Genuine surrender says, "Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed to fulfill your purpose and glory in my life or in another's life, please don't take it away!"

This level of maturity doesn't come easy. In Jesus' case, he agonized so much over God's plan that he sweated drops of blood. Surrender is hard work. In our case, it requires intense warfare against our self-centered nature.

I think surrendering to God also somewhat reflects how much you trust and have faith in God. If we surrender completely, I think people would feel the security and confidence knowing that God has everything under control, yet if we don't surrender, we worry and try to take matters into our own hands. Surrendering to God is also more selfless, because you don't try to make things work to your advantage or your own will, you make sure God takes the situation into His hands for God's will.
I think it's difficult for some people to surrender because there's fear and worry of what might happen if we don't take matters into our own hands, but it's important to have faith in God, because he sees the situation differently, and God knows how to handle the situation properly.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight
-Proverbs 3:5-6

Surrendering fully to God is one of the hardest challenges most will face. Even Jesus struggled with that.
Giving 100% of your life to be dedicated to fufill God's will is tough.

I recently heard a talk with a topic similar to what I feel this decks message was.
The person said something like this:
I would rather have a short meaningful life and do what I was meant to do, than live the longest life and had done nothing.
You can live up to 100, but still be looking for your purpose.

You have to be strong and spiritually mature to fully surrender to God.
For everyone, it's not an easy thing. This is why we continuously meditate and talk to God so that we can be spiritually mature enough to that meaningful life and carry out what God has planned for you in the future.
Even when you haven't compleatly surrendered, continue to trust in him and know that he has a purpose for you and all we have to do is follow his commands.

"Instead of trying harder, you trust more."
~Audrey~

This reflects heavily on one of Dan Joo's sermons. He was talking about the "Unforgivable" topic and he mentioned something like this.

Basically, the idea was that no matter how angry and aggravated you are at a person, you should never be the one to say "One does me wrong, and I shall wrong one back." It would go against the whole "He who is without sin may throw the first stone" parable. If I was to translate it into this context, basically, we should always leave the brainstorming process up to God, and carry out his ideas. We should never take action off on our own because;

A; God is always with us
B; God always has a better plan
C; Immediately when we take action on our own, it shows that we didn't reflect upon how Jesus would go about the situation, and we IGNORE His presence.

So really, we have to learn to let him guide us on our walk of faith, rather than try and walk it alone.