Freedom in Surrender

We live in an age where hope is scarce and fear is our dominant posture. I want us to get our hopes up again. What would it look like if we partnered with God and took 1 Peter 1:3-8 seriously, that Jesus is our living hope and now we get to live in inexpressible joy. Last year and honestly, just this month, has been incredibly difficult to live in that truth that I get to have inexpressible, glorious joy. It’s because I was defining joy incorrectly. Joy is not temporary like happiness. Joy isn’t an emotion; it’s a state of being; a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22). If we have been born again, then we get to live in and through the fruits of the Spirit. 

In the Greek, Joy is chara, which means joy, delight, gladness and is used biblically to mean “joy because of grace” or “awareness of God’s grace”. I was praying for restoration from this past year and losing a loved one this month and everything that I had lost; however, God reminded me of everything I have to hope for and the truth that I get to live out because I can trust in Him and know that He is good. Hope is knowing that God has already won and that we get to partner with Him in praying for his kingdom to come so that more people receive the gift of salvation and our Living Hope. In order to be restored we need to first become aware of what was broken or what led to a need for restoration. In my own walk, I have noticed that when I come to my father in a posture of surrender, my brokenness doesn’t feel like condemnation anymore.

2 Corinthians 10:5 commands us: “[to] demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and [to] take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
 
Surrendering my thoughts and laying them at the feet of Jesus and taking up His word because it’s truth. Surrendering means emptying myself of everything not of God to prepare myself to receive from Him. It means to be thirsty for more of Him. My restoration process is still ongoing just like my healing process is still ongoing. If we want to live in fullness and receive restoration we need to confess our sins, repent of the lies we have believed and the sins we have committed and come to God with our conviction. 

Not only do we want restoration but God WANTS to restore our hope and our joy. Live in the prophecy of Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35 is titled Joy of the Redeemed in the NIV :“The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.” Isaiah 35:1-2 NIV . One of my favorite ways to pray this Word over my life is listening to “Isaiah Song” by Maverick City Music.

He is the God who makes all things new. The restorer of our souls (Psalm 23). Shub is the Hebrew word for restore and it means to turn back, return, bring back, repay, restitution, restoration. He is the God of more/abundance. Not only will He restore and make things new but it will be BETTER than before. Remember Job’s story and all he lost. We can still grieve what we lost and wrestle with God but keeping our faith and trust in Him will bring restoration of all we lost, hope and joy. There’s freedom in surrender.

Author | Karla Sanchez Tavera