Ah yes, surrender. The moment when change is possible. And may I add, it is the maximum moment when change, and turning toward our destiny is possible.
In his lecture, Learning in Wartime, C. S. Lewis wrote,
You would be surprised if you knew how soon one begins to feel the shortness of the tether, of how many things, even in middle life, we have to say “No time for that,” “Too late now,” and “Not for me.” A more Christian attitude, which can be attained at any age, is that of leaving futurity in God’s hands. We may as well, for God will certainly retain it whether we leave it to Him or not. Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment “as to the Lord.” It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or grace received.
Learning this lesson has come only through frustrating years of trying to live in the future tense. It is easy to long for the fulfillment of a dream so much, that you miss the beauty of now, and what God is doing in the present. But Lewis is right. Though we may long with all of our heart for some future outcome, God is always beckoning us to not forsake His presence here, in today.
How difficult it is to surrender the deepest longings of our hearts.
Yet, that is when the peace comes.
That is where God meets us.
It is in our absolute surrender that the seeds of change are sown. Then, and only then, is change toward destiny possible.
You cannot change your future by trying to live there. You can only miss what God wants to do in the present.
It is in the ordinariness of today, and accepting where you are, and what God is doing now, that you grow toward His future purposes for tomorrow. Trust me. Wrestling with God only delays where you want to be.
This I have learned from experience.
Our greatest peace comes when all the heart’s longings are surrendered to a God who knows His “perfect times” for us. Those maximum moments of opportunity and our moments when the greatest changes can take place. That is when moving forward toward the destiny He has planned for us is possible.
Waiting for Him brings the growth we need.
Surrender brings His peace.
And, eventually, joy.
“And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness…”
Joel 2:13 KJV
