Surrender to Love

"Be willing to be made low before the Lord and he will exalt you!” James 4:10

A few days ago, I was reading James and was struck by something I have read before, but never really understood. I felt God speaking very personally to me at that moment. I think it may also be a key for others, but you never really know until you put it out there. So here I am, putting it out there.

I have consistently had a struggle with the idea of surrender, but I had a realization that my struggle was really about God’s goodness. I haven’t fully believed that He is good, and therefore, I have struggled to surrender everything. I’ve been in process with this for a long time. I can remember sermons where they are calling for a full surrender and me giving it all I had at the altar. I really thought I surrendered all, but the reality is there are hidden things outside of my consciousness that I haven’t surrendered. Even further, there probably will be for the rest of my life. 

It’s about process, not perfection. Jesus didn’t say become perfect so that you can look like me and be fully surrendered to God. He came and became perfect himself so that we would look like Him in the eyes of God. Our life is a journey of surrendering to the goodness of God and what He has already done for us. As we engage that journey with intentionality, our life really does start to look more like Jesus.

As I read James 4:10, I realized that if I surrender and go low, He will raise me up. He won’t leave me in a lowly state. God actually exalts people that are low before Him. Later in the chapter, It talks about how there is only one true judge and lawgiver—aka Jesus, God, Holy Spirit. What I finally concluded is that His judgement is good. I want Him to judge me, because it causes me to live more fully into who I am made to be. Through his good judgement I am exalted, not condemned.

I found it helpful to let myself be molded by His good judgement. Once I heard him speak about His good judgement, I surrendered even more to Him. I asked for forgiveness and turned towards Him. It’s changed things for me. So try and ask him this question:

Jesus, what else, in my life, can I surrender to your good judgement?