One hand, two hands or none....PART 1

In church a couple Sundays ago, something was brought to my attention.  It was a moment of great worshipping taking place and God used it to illustrate something to me.  As I opened my eyes, I began to notice all the ways that people were worshipping.  Some just stood there and didn't have any hands raised, some raised one, some had both hands raised.  The ones that hand their hands raised even differentiated.  Some had them down low and some had them stretched as high as they could reach.  Hand raising is not foreign to me.  I grew up Pentecostal and a preacher's kid.  In this moment though, I was reminded of something.  Oftentimes in situations where surrender needs to take place, the universal gesture is to raise our hands.  When a police officer is taking control of a situation, they normally demand that weapons be dropped and the subject to raise their hands.  Surrender is usually not an easy thing to do.  As humans, we view surrender as giving up, losing control, lack of power, basically a negative connotation.  In fact, surrender is defined as to yield to the power or control of another, to give over to something, or to give up completely and agree to forgo especially in favor of another (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary).  Interesting, to give up completely...not part of the way, not three quarters of the way, not even 99 percent of the way but completely and agree to forgo especially in favor of another.  The difference with surrender and God is that it is your choice.  You are not being forced, you come by decision.  I can recall a few specific times in my life when I had to surrender very difficult things to God.  One time comes to mind, Phillip and I had been dealing with the issue of having a child.  Doctors had told me I had two incurable diseases.  However, God told me I was healed.  However, I still struggled.  I struggled with the "what ifs."  Considering I had dealt with anxiety issues for years, these "what ifs" and fears basically plagued my life to the point of normally giving in to them.    What if I get pregnant and the illness returns, what if I don't make it through the labor, what if this, what if that.  Once again, fear, panic, stress and anxiety was beginning to choke out the blessing that God had for me.  You know what though, Sunday was coming....One Sunday morning, I went to the alter with a family member to pray with them.  After praying for her, I remember just standing there and I just began to talk to God.  My heart was heavy and the load was becoming unbearable.  I began to plead to God that I needed an answer, why was HE being so quiet....I had one request after another after another.  Then in my spirit, I began to be reminded of the promises that God had given me.  His word says that by His stripes we were healed, so I stepped in to that healing, in Psalms we are told that when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles and also then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  God had already put in my spirit that Phillip and I would have a child.  I recently heard a preacher say, "there are no "ifs" in God's word."  You know what, when He says that He will do something and when we are obedient then He will be faithful.  So in that moment at the alter, I lifted both hands as high as I could and instead of asking for more stuff, I began to give thanksgiving and praise.  I told God that I was going to surrender the whole situation over to Him.  My heart was heavy, my mind was tired and spiritually I was drained.  I had nothing good left to give.  All I had to give was my anxiety, my sickness, my worry, and my hurt, but you know what, God took it.  As I stood there, with hands lifted and crying as never before, I was in a place of surrender. I was saying, Jesus I agree to forego in your favor, whatever your will is, I accept it.  In that instant, a peace as I had never experienced before rushed through my body and remained throughout the pregnancy, labor, and delivery.  In Isaiah 55:8-9, it says, " “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  I don't know about you, but I would prefer someone that has thoughts and ways higher than my own to be in control of my life.  He holds my future, walks with and guides me in the present, and has blood covered my past.  When starting to write this blog, something came to mind.  When we come to Jesus, repent and ask Him to be our savior, we are supposed to surrender our lives to Him then.  So then why is it, when we come to trails in life, we tend to hold on to them white knuckle and all and attempt to battle them in our own will.  We might give a portion to Him, but sometimes not all of it.  Is it being afraid of losing control, afraid of what He will do?  Are we saying, Jesus I believe you are the Son of God and my Savior, but this one time I don't trust you on it.  Do you know the word believe when translated Greek to English in the Bible also meant to trust in?  So, that means I believe who you say you are and I trust you with my WHOLE life...even the trails, even my children, even my finances, even my illness, even my hurt from the past, my wounds from life, my family, my marriage, my job....all of it.  God doesn't want to destroy you.  In fact, you know how in the situation with the police they would demand that you drop your weapons?  Well when we surrender to God, He commands the enemy that their weapons will not prosper against us.  Isaiah 54:17 (KJV) says, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." He wants you to surrender to Him, though.  The next time you are faced with something, don't hold on for "dear life," take a deep breath, raise your hands and surrender it to Him.    "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeramiah 29:11).