A Season of True Surrender

A Season of True Surrender

As I looked over all the writings in my journal and my walk with God, I realized that my life has been like a puzzle that God allows me to put one piece at a time.  As the Word of God tells us in:  {Ecclesiastes 3:1 - To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.}   This is how our life is. If you read the entire scriptures from 1-8, you will identify many of your seasons and many are probably not yet revealed because God has a purpose through every season.  One particular season in my life, I want to share was back in November 2011 that ministered to me while I was reading the book of 2 Chronicles 1:1-12. 

While I was reading the book of 2 Chronicles 1:6-12: I was intrigued by what Solomon responded to God. Let me rewind just a bit of what I imagined why Solomon responded for Wisdom to God’s offer.   I imaged Solomon as a little boy growing up seeing his father David reigned as King for many years and being successful in all he did, seeing his father King David victorious in many battles against his enemies, having the respect of others and having that role of a powerful King that ruled for many years and lived a very comfortable life and also seeing King David in a way many didn’t see him,  “alone” in his secret place, where Solomon saw his father singing songs of adoration and lifting his hands up to the heavens and dancing unto God pouring out a fragrance of burnt offering as a way of showing his gratitude of God’s faithfulness, recognizing God as the living God.  This led me to read the scripture {John 4:23: Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks}.  I also imagined King David speaking to Solomon of God and imparting in him the values and the obedience that comes from trusting God. Solomon realized and also identified himself like his father, having the true meaning of worship and seeking God, it tells us in {2 Chronicles 6:  Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord in the tent of meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it}

As the Word of God tells us, Solomon did not offer just one or two offerings of praise to God, it was thousand burnt offering, it was an ongoing offerings of praise and worship, giving God all the glory and honor, a mind recognizing the Kings of Kings, the one who held his life in his hands, his future, his legacy, his salvation. Wow, this wasn't just fifteen minutes or an hour of burnt offerings; this was an out-pour and overflow of hours of gratitude that reached the heart of God. This led me to scripture in {Romans 12:1-2: “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship.”}

In spite of all the power that his father King David processed and the lifestyle that Solomon had, it seems to me that Solomon was unsure of himself to take on the responsibilities that one day was going to be handed over to him from King David.  Solomon recognized his weakness and feared in his own strength, but when God asked him in {2 Chronicles 1:7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.}  This brought me to the scripture of {1 John 5:14-15 this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him}.  So as I read on in 2 Chronicles 1:7, what ministered to me also was those 2 words “that night” which means that Solomon would seek God’s presence in the midst of quietness, when no one was around, no interruptions, no business, and that brought me to the scripture in {Matthew 6:6- But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.} Solomon knew he can do nothing with his own strength but with the strength whose power accomplishes all which is in and through God.  This brought me to the scripture in {2 Corinthians 12:9- But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.} so Solomon’s response to God was {2 Chronicles 1: 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of your?} which brought me to the scripture in {James 1:5- If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.}  I believe that Solomon knew that God was Wisdom, All Power, All Authority, Ruler of Heaven and Earth and everything in it. Which brought me to scripture in {Proverbs 24:5-6- A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength. For waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.} So God responded to Solomon in {2 chronicle 1:11-12 God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king,12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.} This lead me to scripture (Matthew 6:33--But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.)

Wow!!   I had to read these scripture several times in order for me to get the full understanding of how this affects me now in my walk with God.  God told Solomon and tells us today in (1 Chronicles 28:9 "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.) This lead me to the scripture (Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.)  I was than stopped in my tracks and re-read the scripture from Deuteronomy 4:29 – “with all your heart and soul” so I went and looked up this scripture (Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?) I was then led to (Proverbs 4:23--Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.)

Conclusion:

I understood that our heart is the central of our emotions and will. Our mind, emotions and will is our soul, which through teachings and reading on it, they all constitute in “Free will” God gave us the ability to make our own decisions, he gave us the ability of thinking, feeling and speaking and finally making our own decisions and acting upon it. The soul can be very deceitful also compared to the heart which keeps us in the veil of darkness and separating us from God. I meditated on this for a while and prayed on it and I knew that God was leading me to the root of what was hidden in my soul and what captivates my heart to lure me to go against seeking God first. I summed it altogether and I understood what God wanted me to have a Heart of True Worship, True Obedience, True Submission, and  a True Relationship with God. God wanted me to surrender my mind, my emotions and my will and my heart completely for him to restore and remove all that was hidden within it. I knew that I also had to pray for wisdom, Wisdom to fix the mess I created because of my decisions and actions that almost cost me my marriage and many others things that lead to brokenness. I know that there is much more restoration, much more healing and much more revelation God has in store for me. As I seeked him, I found him. In my brokenness, he has healed me. This is a journey that will continue until the end of time. I know that everyday I wake up, I have to die self and allow God to take control of my body, soul and spirit.  God has equipped me through his Word how to restore my relationship with HIM and the more obedient and submissive I was to him, the more he gave me back all that I had lost.

I embrace everyday knowing that my life is in God’s hands and that nothing or no one can take away from me this LOVE that had a beginning but has no end. Now with much expectation, I take His Word waiting for a new revelation for me to write about. It is a journey of a new insight of all that is and will be manifested through my writings. I pray to God everyday that I can be able to minister to others with my writing with much truth of my experiences in this life and to let those who read my writing understand that God’s glorifies himself through a transparent heart.

In Brokenness, I Come to You (Christian Praise Worship Songs with Lyrics)

Written by Maribel Castillo