As a grandma of six young children, I am always being brought into their world of what they find fascinating. Sometimes, I’m not quick on the uptake—especially with the older two—but when it is something that grabs my attention, I latch on. For in my estimation, it might be a “teachable” moment for me.
Martin, who is almost three years old, introduced me to the Stinky and Dirty Show. Stinky, a garbage truck, and Dirty, a backhoe, are best friends who constantly face situations where they must problem solve. In trying to figure out what to do when looking at their current dilemma, the question, What if? (we tried this or that), is always bantered back and forth, between the two characters. I love that! For that phrase lays the groundwork for listening. (See their theme song at the bottom of this post.)
In my last blog, Are You Listening? Part Two, I talked about surrendering to the Lord. It wasn’t long after writing it that the Lord began to show me—as if peeling the layers of an onion—that surrendering to Him was much more than I had understood.
When the Lord first brings you to the doorstep of surrender, in theory, it sounds lovely. You have ached to “let go and let God.” You have longed for Him to take control of your life.
But when He does, What if it looks completely different from what you imagined?
I think we get a fairytale version in our heads of what submitting to God looks like. I know I did. I believed that I wanted God to be Lord of my life, but when it came down to it, what I truly wanted was to tell Him how to get it done.
When I was in my early 20s, I contracted a severe case of conjunctivitis. Convinced that God would heal me I refused to get medical attention. It was only when I began to see double that I broke down and sought the care of an ophthalmologist. For months he treated the conjunctivitis but with no success.
One Sunday morning in church before giving the sermon, my pastor asked for everyone who needed healing to raise their hand. One by one, he asked us to say out loud what was on our hearts. After hearing everyone’s requests, he prayed a simple prayer asking the Lord to heal each of us.
That afternoon as I was getting ready to put more drops in my eyes, I felt the Lord stop me, asking, “What are you doing? Don’t you believe that I healed you?“
I put the drops down.
At my ophthalmology appointment that next week, my doctor was surprised to find no sign of infection. God did heal me. In His own way and time.
We understand with our heads that surrendering means to give up. Pride makes it hard for our hearts to follow through. When, in humbleness, we repent of self and ask the Lord to step in, He does.
Like the Israelites at Jericho, the Lord does not ask us to fight. He simply tells us to believe—taking Him at His Word—and stand. (See Joshua 6.) What if that is what He is looking for all along?
“Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
John 6:28-29 – ESV
The Good News of the Gospel is that Jesus took care of it all on the cross. “It is finished.”
Kimberly
