AGGRAVATION OR SURRENDER
Have you ever had to surrender to something that has been aggravating in this world? Well, I did today and earlier this week. My dad is living with me. A company comes on Monday and Fridays to help dad to get cleaned up, whatever he wants done in his room and then they fix his meals, clean the bathrooms, dust, vacuum, etc. Which is amazing for me. Well, they did not show up at the usual time of 10am today. Every couple of hours, my dad or I have been calling them to see if they are still coming. It is almost 5pm and someone is supposed to be here soon. Our frustration and aggravation level has been high to say the least. After they were supposed to come this morning, I was going to leave and go do some “shopping therapy.” The later it has gotten in the day, the less likely it has been that I could go. Something important I had to do? No. Something I needed to do? No. Something I wanted to do? Yes. By the time I am typing this, I have surrendered my aggravation to the fact that I can’t go. Was I kept home because I was going to get in wreck or for some other harmful reason (maybe I was going to spend too much money? Ha!)
Also, a couple of days ago, we were at dad’s heart Dr. visit. The Dr. had just finished talking to us and the lights went out. It was pitch black in that room. Dr. quickly opened the door and there was light. The electricity had gone out. The hospital there had a generator but the medical building did not. Since dad is in a wheelchair, guess what, we could not use the elevator. (I was sure to thank God that we had not been in the elevator when the lights had gone out!) So, we were stuck. In fact, stuck for two hours. The nurses were trying to get someone to come help dad get down the stairs. They finally got ahold of the paramedics who had a special chair to get him down those stairs. Of course, that was all an aggravation, but what was even more of an aggravation, was that I was going to take food to our preacher’s family because of a surgery going on in their family. A friend was helping with the meal, so I surrendered my aggravation, and called her. I gave her my garage door opener numbers and told her where everything was in my fridge and on my kitchen table. She had to deliver it by herself, late, but it got to them. What a week full of aggravation which led finally to surrender!!
So, you are thinking that was a hard week, but what does that have to do with God? There are things of this world, we have to surrender to our God. Surrender is actually a gift. We have to realize there is stress and weariness tied to holding onto something too tightly that we think we need to control. Somethings in this complicated world are completely out of our control. We need to change our aggravation, into surrendering our tight control. Surrender leads us to: peace-rest-trust-faith in our God. God lets you rest and take some deep breaths (you can believe, I sure was) and calm our spirits that come with aggravation and our need for control. We just have to surrender that control, when things in this earth try to bring us down.
Years ago, when my daughter was getting married, we thought we had crossed all our T’s and dotted our I’s. 24 hours before the wedding: the photographer called her to say he was not coming-we went to pick up the flowers for the centerpieces, corsages and bouquets, they had mistakenly sold them to someone else and, to top that off, her dad was officiating the service and he was having a hard time breathing that day. Talk about aggravation! (Good thing no one took my blood pressure that day!) My daughter was better than I was at surrendering that aggravation. Ended up, the flowers were delivered and we set up a long table in my living room and family helped us with getting the bouquets, corsages and centerpieces, etc. together the night before-sweet friend took all the pictures day of the wedding and they were amazing and a dear friend went to where my husband was and gave him a breathing treatment so he could make it to the wedding. Wow! What a lesson of surrender that had to be learned that couple of important days!
Psalm 37:23-24 reads “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” The righteous know that when they fall, they are never left lying there; when they stumble, they are never completely forsaken. God’s word is the roadmap for Christians and that if followed and obeyed, that map allows God to order our steps, and that leads to a happier life. There is surrender in that! Proverbs 16:9 reads “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Does that sound similar in your life? We plan something and because of strange things being thrown in our paths by the world, we realize that we need to surrender our lives to God. After all, He is really the one in control. Sometimes, as humans, we forget that.
It is scary to give up control of a situation, isn’t it! When we hold onto aggravation about a situation, before we go to the gospel, we are all about self: self-control, self-protection, self-preserve which are not the best options to a solution. We need to replace that with surrender with knowing: He is worthy, He is true to His promises, He is truth. God is ultimately in control, even thou He has given us freedom to make our own choices. Sometimes, we think God is too busy to see what we are going thru, and we need to hold onto control. We don’t want to surrender all those aggravations of this world to Him. But we must.
There is a song by the name of “I Surrender All” by Judson Wheeler Van Deventer. Here are a few of the words: “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give, I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live…humbly at His feet I bow, worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me Jesus take me now…make me Savior wholly Thine, let me feel the Holy Spirit, truly know that Thou art mine…Lord I give myself to Thee, fill me with Thy love and power, let Thy blessing fall on me…(chorus) I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.” That is easier said than done isn’t it. But when we keep our focus on our Savior, life is so much more peaceful and ordered.
Our identity is in Christ thru His shedding His blood on the cross. He surrendered to the plan God had, in order to save us. For us to surrender is to be like Christ. We need to release our hold onto things of this world and anchor them in Christ! If you are carrying a weight, something that is beyond your control, bigger than you can imagine to carry, remember-you are not alone. Jesus will carry you just like He carried that heavy cross. When we surrender, we exchange our worry and anxiety for His peace and His power. When we hold onto aggravation which is beyond our control, we become bogged down with worldly troubles.
We need to save ourselves aggravation, and remember who is ultimately in control. Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Jesus never changes, He is never too busy for us. We can be sure of His grace and mercy. We can be assured if we give up our control, Jesus will take over for us. When we do that, we can find peace!
Surrendering instead of giving in to aggravation, is so much better on us (and our blood pressure.) Most things of this life, are not worth the aggravation and stress. In surrender we can find so much peace and happiness in life! Aggravation on the other hand robs us of so much time on this earth that we should be using for service to Him. We can either go throughout our lives with our fists clenched or we can go thru our lives with our fists wide open surrendering our lives to God! Give it to Him! That is the ultimate type of surrender we have the power to give. We have to put our minds back in focus to God, when the things of this life hit! Surrendering to God is what He wants us to do and our lives will be more peaceful in our souls. Sure, there are struggles every day, but keep focus on God. He is the only true way. He is Who we are to surrender our entire life in service, to Him.
Aggravation or surrender. Which do you choose today?
Till next time!
Keela