Surrender Some

I will say to the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." Psalm 91:2

Judson W. Van DeVenter penned these words in 1896:

Some to Jesus I surrender,
Some to him I quasi give;
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence Sunday live.

WAIT! Those aren't the words!
Here is what it really says:

ALL to Jesus I surrender,
ALL to him I FREELY give;
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence DAILY live.

Surrender by definition means to yield (something) to the possession or power of another; to give up, abandon, or relinquish (comfort, hope, etc.); to yield or resign (an office, privilege, etc.) in favor of another.

As a whole it is typically hard for one to surrender, when we surrender we are no longer in control and by human nature everyone enjoys control of something so we feel life is in "order." But God calls us to a higher standerd. We need to surrender ALL to Him, A.L.L.

I think we would be lying if we said "YES, I have this mastered and I give it all to Him and hold on to nothing for myself." At some point we have all struggled with surrendering all.

I vividly remember the first day I truly gave it all to Christ. I was standing at our kitchen sink a few days out from giving birth to our second child. The doctors said some tests looked like she could have a serious kidney problem and in RARE cases it results in death. I was washing my hands and remember praying "Lord, you blessed us with this child for a reason, she is not ours but yours. Give us strength and endurance as we walk this journey and thank you for the grace that is big enough to cover us. If it is your will to take her, then I have to trust in you, if it is Your will that she have a disease that could ratically affect her little life, then we trust You." By the time I was done, I was sobbing, not because I was afraid, but because I had complete peace that HE was in control. I was not holding on to a small fragment of the situation in hopes that I could control the situation, I laid it at the cross and kept walking.

We are blessed to say that she is healthy and fine, regardless the peace that covered me that day is something I have never forgotten and it is something I strive harder than ever for. About a year later, our oldest daughter was actually diagnosed with a rare issue that will live with her forever. She is monitored by doctors closely but each of them say she is a miracle that none of the "typical" issues or side effects have occured to her. The day we got the call once more I had to lay it at His feet and trust in Him that His grace will cover us and sustain us when we need it.

Now, as we walk the adoption road we have to lay it all at His feet. EVERY LAST BIT. Seems easy, but when your flesh sees things that could only get worked out by God, the flesh/enemy fight to get the glory. The end of this journey has been written by someone better than I, the story has been written by someone who could only write such a beautiful story, so why surrender some? Why not give it ALL to Him? Why not throw our hands up and say "LORD, we are yours, do with us and our family as you will, show us what and where to go and we will do it." If we do, I know the Lord will show us HIS will, in HIS time, thru HIS story.

Why miss a blessing like that?