WHY THE TITLE SURRENDER AND TRUST?
After many years of seeking the Lord and trying to walk as believers in Jesus, we (Pastor Daniel Martin and David Thurman) have concluded that Surrender and Trust are primary keys to that walk.
Pastor Martin: In my own personal life I am in constant need of TRUST and SURRENDER, and I have been shocked at how completely intertwined the two are.
I love the hymn “’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” That hymn is very rich, but at times some of the sweetness is tempered with the fact that real trust is proven by our SURRENDER (or proven to be false by our lack of surrender).
There is no real trust without surrender.
One who says he or she is trusting, but is not actively surrendering in his or her life, is deceived. When we fully trust Him, surrender will very much be a part of our lives.
There can be no actual surrender without deep trust!
If we are not surrendering in one area of our lives, then we are not fully trusting him either.
David Thurman: Because of the importance of surrender, a number of years I began each devotional time with the Lord with a time of surrender – trying to surrender myself to Him. At first, I struggled even to come to the point of telling the Lord that I fully surrendered to Him. I had to be honest. I had so many areas of my life that were not surrendered and so many areas of selfishness or worldliness, that I struggled to bring myself even to commit to full surrender.
So I had to ask the Lord to bring me to the point where I could even pray for full surrender. My prayer was “Lord, I want to be at the point of a desire for a full surrender. But I don’t know that I can honestly pray it. So please help me honestly desire it.” It was a prayer expressing a desire for a desire.
But God, in His compassion and mercy, honored that tepid prayer. Eventually, after many months of that prayer, the Lord brought me to the point that I could honestly pray for Him to help me fully surrender – every thought, every desire, every room in my heart, every part of my being, every fleshly thought and motive. Now that I am praying it, we are working on the part that involves actual surrender.
Pastor Martin: I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I have faced a tough surrender and then thought “When I have conquered in this, then I will have arrived at total surrender and be done with that issue.”
But another area of needed surrender is always waiting in the wings. That need will continue until we meet Him face to face, after being changed into His image by seeing Him face to face.
“…when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” I John 3:1
Three pertinent verses:
(Rom 8:28) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Our lack of surrender - immediate, full surrender - is actually a lack of believing, trusting the truth of this verse. When we disobey, we do it believing/trusting things will actually be best for us if we don’t do the painful surrendering, but go our own way.
(Rom 8:32) He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
When we know, recognize, meditate and allow this truth to become large in us, surrender is easy. We can easily obey/surrender, no matter how painful the loss in the surrender, when we know that He is so much on our side, that He gave His own Son for us, and trust Him to deal with the fallout from our surrender. If we obey and surrender, there will come a day when we totally understand that the surrender was the very best thing He could require of us. We will surrender as soon as we really Trust God.
Surrender ALWAYS ends well!
(Rom 8:31) What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (All scriptures - ESV)
Trusting that God is with us, with us with all He Is and Has as God, makes surrender easy if we allow the two to work in tandem.
When trust is not active, surrender is almost impossible. Surrender only as a sense of duty is difficult to begin, even more difficult to maintain.
David Thurman: For me, so much of my struggle with trust was connected to a real belief in the goodness of God. Sure, my mind knew that God was good. But, because of painful and distressing events in my life, I didn’t really believe in my heart that God was good.
But God brought me to the point that I believed in His love, His kindness, His compassion, and His goodness toward His child. Everything that happens in the life of his child, God works for good.
So the title of this devotional is SURRENDER AND TRUST. This devotional covers many areas as it encourages the believer to come to the point of full surrender and of complete trust. Each week has a theme. Areas covered include sources of temptation, exploration of the rooms of my heart, desires of the flesh and desires of the soul, self deception, and confronting the circumstances and offenses that wound, injure, or distress us.
But the devotional begins with Section I - Faith, Hope and Love, which are virtues essential for the Christian journey. Our destination in Him is His perfect love. SURRENDER AND TRUST is written to help us journey closer to that destination as we surrender to Him each day and then trust Him in all circumstances as a result of that daily surrender.
Pastor Daniel Martin (contributor) is the pastor of Bethel Church in Selma, AL. Many years ago, he felt called to “cross walks” in which he carries a cross in neighborhoods and streets, prays, and interacts with people. His cross walks have covered every street in Selma, AL numerous times, and he has cross walked in other places as well. Pastor Martin is also active in prison ministry, prayer ministry, and school outreach. He has four adult children and many grandchildren.