“All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live”
~ I Surrender All (J.W. Van Deventer )
Growing up, I sang the lyrics to this well known hymn many times but never really stopped to think about what I was singing. Take a minute and listen to some of these words:
All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I Truly Give
As I thought about this statement, I was forced to ask: Do I freely giving Him all that I have? In Matthew 16:24 Jesus tells His disciples that “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”. To follow Him, I need to let Him rule my life and not try to rule it myself. If I’m honest, there are parts of me that are easy to give and others that are more difficult. He doesn’t ask for some, but all. Oh how I wish to sing this song in full sincerity.
I Will Ever Love and Trust Him, in His Presence Daily Live
Do I ever love and trust Him? When the rubber meets the road and the trials and temptations of this world come my way, do I really trust him? In the good times and in the bad times do I seek His presence? These are just questions that I’ve asked myself.
These verses and questions led me to think about David, “a man after God’s own heart.” If you ever want to see an amazing example of authentic love for the Lord, read Psalm 63. In this Psalm David is proclaiming his unshaken love for our God, his desire for God’s presence and his willingness to surrender all for the gift of relationship with the Father. May that be my own desire!
Though I’m not yet near where I want to be, I have seen growth in these areas over the last few years. Many people think that in order to grow in our intimacy with the Lord we must strive harder, but it’s quite the opposite. Instead of striving, we’re called to surrender - surrender our desires, our wills, our wants and perceived needs, our heart, our decisions, our dreams, everything. And as we surrender and empty ourselves he begins to fill us. He fills us with his heart, his dreams, his will, his character, his presence, his Spirit! Surrender doesn’t come easy, though, but it is necessary to become fully satisfied in Him.
Africa Freedom Mission
As I thought about these lyrics and their implications for a life of surrender, I was taken back to an event that happened in my life this past fall. I was on Instagram one evening and stumbled across an ad for a ministry called Africa Freedom Missions (@AfricaFreedomMission). When I saw it, my heart jumped out of my chest because Africa has such a special place in my heart. After learning more about their organization and its leadership, I quickly submitted an application for the trip.
AFM sends teams on 2-week, 4-week and summer long missions to four different countries in Africa. Because of previous experience serving on teams in South Africa (twice in the last three years), I knew that 2 weeks was just not enough. So, I applied to serve for a month in Zambia along with my amazing girlfriend Hallie.
If I’m honest, when I applied, I hadn’t taken time to fully discern the Lord’s leading. I always want to be someone who submits my plans and desires to Him and the respond in obedience to His leading. So I slowed things down for a week. During that week, Hallie and I committed to pray for discernment and for one another with respect to serving on this team in Zambia. There were also things that I hadn’t considered that would be impacted by such a decision (lack of summer income to pay for my final year of school). So, I wanted to make sure it was Him leading and not just my desires to return to a place that I’ve grown to love.
This devoted week brought me back to those truths in Matthew and Psalms about completely surrendering my all to Him. Going to Him in prayer not only helped solidify my desire and acceptance to serve in Zambia this summer but allowed me to continually let Him take the lead. Seeing the Lord provide opportunities like this has really strengthened the relationship I have with Him. It has allowed me to witness His active hand in my life. And it has helped me rest in the fact that His plans are far better than mine.
I’m continuing to learn what it means to surrender and give Him with everything. But if I am going to be His hands and feet on this Earth, I can’t take this task for granted! Would you join me in this High calling of surrender?
————————————————————————
Malik Peterson is a junior at Grace College studying nursing. He will be serving in Zambia with AFM for the month of June.