Raising the White Flag

Anyone else need both Jesus and coffee every morning? Anyone else a list maker? Anyone else love to check things off a list? Who likes to check things off in their own timing? Anyone else’s family avoid them until after the daily dose of Jesus and coffee? Don’t answer that one! But, if you answered yes to any of the others, you may have also discovered that in order to work from God’s list and not your own agenda, it is very necessary to get up early and surrender the personal to do list in favor of His. (And to get up early, you may need all the coffee). 

“Tell all the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Take your choice of life or death! Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life!’”

Jeremiah 21:8-9 NLT

In this passage from Jeremiah, the people of Judah would not surrender to God, so He forced their surrender to the Babylonians. Similar to the Israelites, when we refuse to surrender to God and trust Him, we often find ourselves in a position of forced surrender—to failed health, to failed relationships, or to financial or other difficulties. For years God had been calling the people of Judah to follow Him and His ways and to turn from sin and idols, but they would not listen. Eventually they found themselves surrounded by the invading Babylonians, with no options other than surrender to save their lives. This scene is a picture of our own offer from God. Surrender to God always results in life—life in Christ, life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, eternal life in heaven with God. 

Even with this amazing promise, surrender can be difficult. We tend to associate surrender with failure, but God has crafted our surrender to Him as our victory, with the ultimate reward of life rather than death. Leading us to surrender, God leads us out of darkness and failure and death and into His perfect light and victory and life. Surrender, which we mark as a defeat, is victory when we surrender to God. We may find it hard to surrender because we don’t want to admit personal defeat, but personal defeat is our only other option. It’s how we were made. We are not self sufficient; instead, we are made for surrender. 

Paul encourages surrender and obedience in his letter to the Philippians: 

“Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

Philippians 2:12-13 NLT

Our “hard work” is daily obedience to God, which must be accomplished out of deep reverence and fear—out of awe, respect, gratitude and in freedom. Obedience is hard work because it calls us to surrender to God’s will and His ways, and to put others first. Obedience requires us to take the long view, to keep eternity as a backdrop, to deny ourselves and to focus on God. It requires daily (often excruciating) small turns toward God and others and away from self. It requires enormous leaps of faith. It demands belief and trust, in all things and in spite of all things. But out of that surrender and obedience grows the desires of our hearts, and we slowly find ourselves in the middle of God’s will for our lives. We find ourselves fulfilled by our deepest desires, given by Him, uncovered by our willingness to obey, and fueled by His power. 

“This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns.”

Jeremiah 4:3 NLT

Referring back to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, God (through Jeremiah) had been instructing them to turn to Him. God called them to “plow up the hard ground” of their hearts. Through the lens of the New Testament, we know God is the farmer who scatters the seeds of faith. This verse is saying we will waste these seeds and therefore the opportunity for growth if we allow thorns and unplowed ground in our lives. Unplowed ground is the refusal to surrender to God in any area in any way. It’s hanging on to our own desires, and it allows thorns to be established—thorns of disobedience, discouragement, disillusionment and disbelief. 

“Start with God--the first step in learning is bowing down to God.”

Proverbs 1:7 MSG

This is the very first step is surrender: bowing down to God. If we want today to be a day that we grow closer to God, the first step is bowing down to God, recognizing His authority and power and purposes and abandoning my agenda. It’s letting go of whatever we are holding onto today that is keeping us from clinging to Jesus. 

Plowing up the hard ground of our hearts requires daily surrender--sometimes in the smallest ways and other times in huge leaps of faith. Let’s resolve to raise high the flag of surrender every day in each of our lives, asking God to work in and through us. And feel free to have a mug of coffee in your other hand!  

Lord, help me to plow up any areas of my heart not fully surrendered to you. Root out any fear, any selfishness, and any disobedience. Give me the vision, courage and willingness to obey in all things, no matter what. Amen.