But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me. Jeremiah 38:21
“The Lord has exalted me by a gift so great, so unheard of, that language is useless to describe it, and the depths of love in my heart can scarcely grasp it. I offer then all the powers of my soul in praise and thanksgiving. As I contemplate His greatness, which knows no limits, I joyfully surrender my whole life, my senses, my judgment, for my spirit rejoices in the external Godhead of that Jesus, that Savior, whom I have conceived in this world of time.”
Bede the Venerable (c. 673-735) in Luke as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 263.
I have safely made it to Soldier’s Grove, Wisconsin, to spend the weekend with my dear friend, John Stanley. He’s been a huge encouragement to me over the years and I am grateful for his support of my work with GTP.
And His wife Jamee is an absolute delight and a radiant reflection of Jesus.
Knowing I would stay in a cabin with no wi-fi, down the hill from their place, I determined that this would be a Surrender Novena weekend. As you may recall John alerted me to the Surrender Novena back in Lent.
Say: “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!” (10 times daily). Trust us. It’s life-changing.
Yesterday, we caught some trout together and enjoyed sweet fellowship. But we also did something I had never before done in my life. We visited the source of a spring fed trout stream. Check out the header photo.
That is 600 gallons per minute of cold, pure abundance flowing from the cleft in the rock.
The reason we can surrender is that God always has and always will have everything sorted. We can be generous at all times and all occasions because He, like this spring, is our abundant Provider. If we refuse, like in today’s Scripture, we lose.
Is it time for you to take a weekend to focus on surrender?