A new perspective on Surrender!

Ok, so today I'm going to do something out of the ordinary. I'm going to repost a blog that my friend Kristin wrote about a book called "When God Writes your Life Story" by Eric and Leslie Ludy. It's been a few years since I read the book, so I was really inspired by the summary Kristin wrote out. May you be inspired as well, as we start this new week. :-)

Kristin's thoughts begin:

The main thrust of "When God Writes your Life Story" is that the real secret of Christianity is learning to let God live His life in ours. Obviously, this is a very deep and meaningful subject and I highly recommend reading the whole book, but today I wanted to share the story of Walter Wilson as I think that it captures the essence of this subject so well.

Walter Wilson was a respected Christian physician in the early 1900s. Several years into his Christian walk, Wilson became severely discouraged. There was no power or victory in his life. He had no sense of God’s presence. He didn’t feel that his work or ministry was producing any significant results. His Christianity was hollow and empty.

One night, Wilson was deeply challenged by a message he heard at a church service, and he realized that he had been missing the very essence of the true Christian life. He went home, locked himself in his study, and fell on his face before God.

‘My Lord,’ he said brokenly, ‘I have mistreated You all my life. I have treated You like a servant. When I wanted You, I called for You; when I was about to engage in something important, I beckoned You to come and help me perform my task. I have sought to use You only as a servant to help me in my self-appointed work. I will do so no more.’

Then Walter Wilson made the exchange that altered his existence forever: He traded his own life for the life of Jesus Christ.

‘Lord, I give You this body of mine; from my head to my feet, I give it to You. My hands, my limbs, my eyes, my brain; all that I am inside and out, I hand over to You. Live in and through me whatever life You please. You may send this body to Africa, or lay it on a bed with cancer. You may blind my eyes, or send me with Your message to Tibet. You may take this body to the Eskimos, or send it to a hospital with pneumonia. This body of mine is Yours alone from this moment on.’

That night, Walter Wilson stepped into the endless frontier of a God-scripted life adventure—and never looked back. His life went from mediocre and meaningless to radical and radiant. Once he exchanged his life for Christ’s, Wilson held the secret to a victorious Christian existence. And nothing was ever the same.

What an amazing testimony! How many times have we tried to fit God into our plans? Have we truly surrendered all?

Consider this quote by Isobel Kuhn:

I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!

This is a sobering thought. I can personally think of many times when God was calling to my heart and I didn’t respond. Perhaps you are one of the ones God is calling to an exciting adventure of service? Have you made excuses about how you are not ready or how you are not a good fit? Have your family and friends made excuses for you?

It’s not too late! Make the exchange today – your life and plans for God’s! Life is too short to hang on to our “logical” “safe” plans that fit nicely and neatly into the norms of society. God is not calling us to be fanatical, but He is calling us to a radical transformation! Are you ready?