Let's Take a Walk

Week 16

Don’t Commit—Surrender

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” —Matthew 9:36–38 (NKJV)

Although Jesus was God, He also was just one single man. He could only be in one place at one time. Even in feeding the five thousand plus, He enlisted the assistance of His disciples to serve the people and gather the left overs. At the point of this Scripture in Matthew, verse 35 mentions that Jesus had been teaching, preaching, and healing in “all the cities and villages.” As a result of this ministry, people by the thousands began to follow after Him seeking something needed in their lives. Stopping and scanning over all the people, Jesus’ heart was gripped with compassion because the Scripture said these people were weary and scattered—lost—like sheep having no shepherd. Realizing His fleshly limitations in ministry, Jesus made the observation that there is so much to do and so little to do it with. What could the answer be?

It is in verse 38 that I want to draw your attention. Notice that Jesus did not say, “more people need to get to work in ministry” or “people need to come up with programs to minister to these people.” He simply said to pray for God to send out people to minister to them. This seems totally opposite of what we would expect. It’s not God’s problem, it ours; right? We should be doing more, being more committed; right? I think this is where, most of the time, we get the cart before the horse. We are programmed that if we commit—do—more, we gain more. My experience has been, however, if we commit more, we get weary in well-doing more. Now, this may scare some of my fellow pastors who have a hard enough time getting people to help in church ministry, but what really is needed on our part is surrender rather than commitment. Somehow we think that if people don’t have commitment, they won’t be good, faithful Christians. I would have agreed with you for many years until I found surrender.

Commitment says, “I will try” and “I will do.” Surrender says, “I can do nothing, but God, You can do all things through me.” First Corinthians 13 alludes to this when it says that His love has to be the foundation that all we do “for Him” is based upon. Commitment is driven by obligation, where surrender is driven by love. There are limits with obligation, but love knows no bounds. For example, if a stranger’s house were on fire with someone trapped inside, I would try everything I reasonably could do to get them out because it is my moral duty to do so (obligation). If it were my family inside however, I would get them out or die trying (love). When we are moved in love, we find ministry not as burdensome, but fulfilling. We are driven with true compassion, not Christian obligation.

Jesus said for us to pray for God to send people to minister. If it was commitment needed, He would have said we need to recruit more people to help us. Instead, Jesus knew His Father could give an anointing and burden to someone who would love them and have the same compassion He was feeling. So, He needs people listening, people surrendered to His purpose, and people who love Him. How do we enlist in God’s work force? We seek intimacy with Him and surrender to His purpose for our lives and not our own. I walked with God many years faithfully, yet I unknowingly was seeking Him to bless my plans rather than letting Him use me to bless His plans. Once we yield everything we are, own, or ever hope to be, His love will move us in far more powerful ways that any guilty conscience ever will.

A few years back, it seemed my world was in a tail spin. This God who had blessed my plans for so many years all of a sudden seemed unconcerned about them. Where favor and promotions once came easy, now the door of blessings seemed slammed in my face. In my wrestling with God for several months, I found myself riding down the highway one day talking with the Lord. The struggle inside of me seemed almost physical because of the knotted feeling I felt inside of me. In a moment of pure desperation, I suddenly exclaimed before I realized what I was about to say, “Okay God, I will do whatever you want me to do!” Instantly, peace poured over me like a fresh warm bath. All the months of uncertainty and struggle released by one simple act: surrender.

It’s hard to put into words all that God has done in my heart since that day, but I wouldn’t trade where I have walked for anything. Opportunities to allow God to pour Himself into others come easy and my heart reaches for them. Why? I am no longer obligated and trying to commit to do better. I am simply responding to what is going on inside of my heart. So I give up, what about you?

This Week’s Focus: Look into my heart to see where my motives and efforts are based. Do I move into action for God out of love or obligation?

This Week’s Goal: Surrender is the ultimate goal. If I have not surrendered, I will start asking God to help me turn loose of all the things I have embraced from the world.

This Week’s Assignment: Spend time with Christ by talking and listening to Him in prayer and by studying His Word. Each day as I interact with others, I want to assess what my heart’s motivation is. Am I just passing pleasantries with others, am I negative, rude, or even prideful? I want to cultivate my heart as fertile ground for the love of Jesus. As I begin to see inner-self each day, I will pray asking the Lord to mold me and make me into a vessel yielded to His purpose and plan, filled with His love and grace.