"To know God's will, we must totally surrender to God's Will." Max Lucado
Lately I have been faced with many amazing changes in my life that have continued to bring me to my knees both in seeking guidance and praising Him for His blessings. Recently, I have battled fear and worry and have had to hand it over to Him completely in order to not get caught up in the enemy's plan. At the same time I have also come face to face with His grace and divine intervention and most importantly transformation. He has poured His love and guidance over me so powerfully but it has taken an emptying of myself in order for Him to be able to change my heart.
To know Him and to be sensitive to Him, we have to totally surrender to Him. We have to seek Him in prayer and ask to be sensitive to His voice. See, often times we go to Him in prayer with a handful of choices that we want Him to decide for us. God, should I take job A or job B, should I move to state 1 or state 2, should I get married, should I stay single, should I have a baby or travel the world.....the list goes on and on of all that we bring to Him. We say, "Lord, this is what I want but I don't know which one is better, You pick."
It takes more than that. We must learn to enter His presence with empty hands, no hidden agendas, no multiple choice test for Him.....we must go to Him completely empty. We must go to Him with a total willingness to do whatever He says. We must surrender our life and our will to Him and trust in the desires He has for us. We must empty the desires of our hearts and allow Him to refill our hearts with all that is Him.
I'm getting married in 27 days and where this is the happiest of moments, it is also a very scary one. I have been battling insecurities and wondering if I will be a good wife. Will I love him the right way? Will I fail him in any way and if I do, will he leave me? Will I always trust him and honor him? Or will I become naggy and argumentative and God forbid, would I ever want to leave? The fears and the questions go on and on yet in the midst of all the shouting fears and questions, I hear the small yet powerful whisper from the Lord telling me, "do not fear, I am here." See, I have prayed and prayed not just for my future husband but for me as well. I have left all of these questions and fears at the cross and I have to make a choice to leave them there. I have to surrender it all to Him and trust Him!
If you haven't listened to the Jeremy Camp song, "Empty Me", I highly recommend this song. This song explains exactly what I am saying. It gives me chills every time I listen to it. We need to be emptied in order to be refilled by Him. Emptied, not just by our wants and what we think we need but emptied of everything. Emptied of shame, unforgiving thoughts, bitterness, things of the world, tomorrow's to-do list, yesterday's failures......everything! We must be willing to surrender our whole world in order to receive His Heaven!
http://youtu.be/TWk42LFOQXM
Holy Fire burn away,
My desire for anything
That is not of you and is of me.
I want more of you and less of me.
Holy Fire burn away,
My desire for anything
That is not of you and is of me,
I want more of you and less of me, yeah.
Empty me,
Empty me, yeah,
Fill, won't you fill me,
With you, with you, yeah.
Holy Fire, burn away,
My desire for anything
That is not of you and is of me.
I want more of you and less of me, yeah.
Empty me,
Empty me, yeah.
Fill, won't you fill me, with you, with you, empty me now.
Well won't you empty me, well won't you empty me now. repeat x2
I want more, I want more, I want more of you, Jesus.
I want more, I want more, oh.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus, oh yeah,
Thank you, Jesus, yeah.
Holy Fire, Holy Fire, Holy Fire, Holy Fire
