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MUSIC BLOG

MARCH 13, 2025

Surrender, but Don’t Give Up!

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV)

I have been at the point of giving up so many times in my life and in my ministry.  I vividly remember one such time. I was serving a church in South Florida.  The pastor was my age, but he wasn’t interested in being my friend, pastor or leader.  I remember so many times that I would be sitting in church, and the pastor would look right at me and say, “. . . and Brother Marty will be . . ..” doing this or that on such and such a date.  It was literally the first time I had heard any of that.  I would tell him that there was a better way to plan, but we never did.  In that little church, a door from the parking lot opened into a hallway separating the church office from the sanctuary.  I remember walking out of the office so frustrated, crossing the hallway into a small room where the choir entered the choir loft and sobbing to the Lord.  “I give up!” I distinctly remember saying.  Please, Lord, change me, change the pastor, or get me out of here! Within two months I was headed to a new place of service in North Carolina where I served the Lord for 17 years.

There are many promises and parallels in the Christian life.  Although we are promised that God will never leave us nor forsake us, we are also promised that in this world we will have tribulation.  Some of our problems are self-inflicted.  We sin.  We separate ourselves from God and the church and then we complain bitterly that no one loves us!  We sin.  We go places we should not go, do things we have no business doing, and say things we should never utter. Then someone calls us out, or we get caught and we cry bitterly.  We give up.  We surrender.  However, we often choose the wrong kind of surrender.  Instead of giving up on sin, we surrender to sin and give up on God. 

There are many times that in our crying out to God, we should humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand.  Just stop squirming and rest there under His hand.  We are under His hand for protection discipline or maybe both.  David begged God to punish him and not let him fall into the hands of his enemies.  David knew God.  He was assured that God would always treat him with love even in times of discipline.  God would never go too far in his discipline and would never forget David’s breaking points. He also, like Paul, knew that in due time God would lift him up.  He could cast all his anxiety on God because he knew that God cared for him.

Are you ready to take a moment to look inside?  Do you trust God enough in your struggles to humble yourself under His Mighty Hand? Maybe you’re looking for ways to wiggle out of His Hand or from under His Gaze.  While it never feels good to be disciplined, it always feels good to know that God cares for you, just as He cares for me.  No matter what you’re going through Jesus Cares for you and He sees you.

Surrender is joy, but often without being joyful.  Megan Evans, from Proverbs 31 ministry said it well:

“As we raise our white flag and cry out to Jesus, He rescues us from the depths. When we humble ourselves before the Lord, we begin to see His mighty hand at work. While we rest safely under God’s care, He will lift us up in due time … and His timing is always perfect.

Surrendering isn’t the same thing as giving up — not when God is involved. Submitting to God means humbly placing ourselves at His feet. Then we give up our desire for control and our pride. Under the care of God’s mighty hand, we release the need to know when, why and how. Faith finds us resting in His power, peace and provision. This different surrender is a dying of self, and in it we begin to walk in fresh, new life with Christ.

Are details of this day causing your head to droop? Help is on the way. Hope is bubbling to the surface even now. When we find ourselves at the end of our rope, let’s instead cast our anxiety on the Lord. Nestle under the protection of God’s mighty hand because He cares for you. Rest there.

Don’t give up in defeat today; surrender to the Lord.”

Blessings

Marty

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