During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Hebrews 5:7
“Surrender of the heart to God includes every possible way of obedience to God because it means giving up one’s very being to God’s good pleasure. Since this surrender is effected by unalloyed love, it includes in its embrace every kind of operation His good pleasure may bring to pass.
Thus at every moment we practice a surrender that has no limits, a surrender that includes all possible methods and degrees of service to God. It is not our business to decide what the ultimate purpose of such submission may be, but our sole duty is to submit ourselves to all that God sends us and to stand ready to do His will at all times.
What God requires of the soul is the essence of self-surrender. The free gifts he asks from us are self-denial, obedience, and love. The rest is His business.”
Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751) in “Surrender is Everything” in Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2005) 26-27.
This Lent I feel God leading me to focus inwardly rather than outwardly. So much of the focus of Lent can be performed as outward acts (giving, prayer, and fasting) from a heart that is neither soft nor submissive.
The life of Jesus, from the beginning to the end of His earthly ministry, reflects that His focus was always on “the Father’s business” and to do “the Father’s will” in every situation. Want that to be true of you too?
For it to be so, Jean-Pierre urges us to give God the gifts of self-denial, obedience, and love. These gifts come from inside us. For those who do, God takes care of the rest. Our lives and our purpose will fulfill His good pleasure.