surrender…

“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

Luke 22:42 NASB

The morning’s devotional focused on surrender… the fact that it comes after the battle… after the wrestling…

Surrender is giving in… when you have nothing more to give to your cause…

The idea of surrender haunts… as I realize all the places I have yet to give up the fight… for wanting things my way… not His…

Solomon’s words speak to my heart… The end of a matter is better than its beginning… (Ecclesiastes 7:8)

Finishing things… that’s what I like to do… one thing at a time… time to focus on the one thing… until it’s done… and can be put away…

It is finished…

But… that’s not the way life is…

Multiple tasks… pursuits… calls… happening all the time… needing some attention… just about every day…

Rarely… does one come to a complete end… because one thing leads to another… and some things being done… need repeating each day… (like making the bed…!)

I wrestle with Him in the doing… completing… but realizing it’s not yet complete…

Reading Solomon’s words in full… I hear…

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 ESV

There’s the rub… patience vs pride…

The pride-full me wants things my way… one thing after another… coming to an end… in orderly fashion… being complete…

I lack patience in this world of undone… not yet… the way He works and calls me to walk now…

Ugh…

This is just one of the places in my heart I need to surrender… yet I’m not sure… I’m ready to give up the fight…. surrender to His call…

“…Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

Some days… I’m a hard-headed captive… bucking against the yoke…