I have a word for you today. Like, literally, a word. One word that when I heard it it stopped me in my tracks. I have a feeling it will do the same to you. Are you ready? Here’s the word:

RESURRENDER

Yes, resurrender. It’s releasing once again what you have taken back.

What is it in your life that you once gave to God? You surrendered your life to him. You surrendered control. You surrendered the outcome. You trusted him with this (this specific area of your life), but somewhere along the way, you took it back.

Now, here you are holding it in your own hands again. Worrying over it. Stressing over it. Trying to control it. Concocting your own plans of how to force it to go as you wish. And in the process, you’ve made a mess, huh?

God is asking you for a resurrender. Give it back to him once again. Whatever it is you once trusted him with, then ended up taking it back for yourself, resurrender it now. I know this much for sure, God can do a much better job with this than you can on your own.

For my single ladies, why are you trying to force that relationship? Remember when you once surrendered your love life and dating to God? Remember how you said you didn’t want him if he wasn’t God’s best for you? Now you’re stalking that boy online, looking completely ridiculous as you fish around for compliments, trying to fan flames God put out. You’ve taken it back! God is asking for a resurrender again.

But this isn’t just about dating, this is about your finances. This is about your dreams, hopes, plans and goals. This is about what is working and what isn’t working. This is about your marriage. This is about your kids. This is about school and your career. This is about the first hour of your day. This is about the music in your car. This is about your weekends. This is about your drinking and your eating.

Have I hit your area yet?

Yes, the specific area of your life that you once surrendered to God, but now, you’ve taken it back. And, if you’re being honest, you haven’t done real well with it in your hands. You started out okay, but dang you’ve gotten off course. You’ve drifted. Now you’re over here shipwrecked on some deserted island, longing for the days when you were letting God navigate. Yeah, you took back control, you did it your way, and look where that has landed you.

Now, here’s the good news, God has always, always, always been waiting for you to turn back towards him.

One of my favorite stories in the entire bible is the story of the Prodigal son. It’s my favorite for many reasons, especially if you know the story of our family for the past 5 years. This one little story in the bible, just a few short paragraphs in length, has been a continual guide for my broken heart, my creatively negative imagination, and my anger that would only make things worse. This story has taught me grace and forgiveness from the parent’s position, but you see, I’m not only the parent in the story, I’m also the wayward child. The child who has taken something and made a mess of it. The child who’s father has never given up on their resurrender.

Let’s read the story again, looking for the resurrender and the Father’s response.

Luke 15: 11-24, Jesus tells the story:

“There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

Notice, the son hadn’t even made it back to the father, in fact it says “he was still a long way off”, and the father RAN to him, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The father welcomed him back while he still had a long way to go to get back to where he once was. While he still smelled like the filth he had been living in. While he was still a mess. While he hadn’t fixed a single thing. While he hadn’t even had an opportunity to say he was sorry.

No, the father waited for none of that. He ran to him as soon as the son did one thing. What did the son do? It says, “He came to his senses.” And when he came to his senses and started thinking right, he decided to go back … to resurrender what he had taken and made a mess of.

Isn’t that us in this very moment? We’re recognizing we took this into our own hands and we’re not doing so well with it. And this is our moment of coming to our senses. The moment when we decide God really does know better than us. God’s way really is better than our own. God’s timing really is worth waiting for. God’s open doors are greater than the ones we’ve been trying to knock down on our own.

So right here, exactly where you are, you decide to resurrender. To hand it back over. To turn around and come back.

God’s response … oh honey, he’s running to you! He’s throwing his arms around you. He’s kissing you. He’s not waiting with angry eyebrows, a big stick and a long lecture. You’re not being put in time out. Girl, God is throwing a party for you!!!!! His girl has resurrendered to him and he celebrates!

No matter how big or how small it is, God wants it back.

Maybe it’s your prayer time. Gosh, you used to spend just 5 minutes really talking to him and listening for him. But you took that 5 minutes back and started doing your own thing with it. You fell out of the habit, out of routine, and you feel so far away now. God just says, “my girl, if you’ll resurrender that time to me, I’ll clean you up again!”

Maybe it’s that thing you worry about. There was a time when you trusted God with that. You gave it to him and he gave you peace. But somewhere along the way, you wandered your way to the throne and picked it back up for yourself again, and here you are overwhelmed with worry as you hold this in your hands, void of the peace you once had.

This is your moment, come to your senses. See the truth here. You’ve taken back what you once released to God. You’re worrying and trying to do this on your own isn’t working. You’ve wasted time. You’ve missed opportunities. You’ve screwed this up. But all that changes with your resurrender!

Remember the story of Jonah and the whale? How did this man end up in the belly of a whale? He stopped doing what God asked him to do. He was doing so good. He was on track. But then, he stopped. He decided to take back his surrendered life, and go where he wanted to go instead of where God told him to go. As a result, he ended up thrown off a ship and spent 3 days in the belly of whale. You know what happened in that stinky, dark, awful place? He resurrendered! And what happened when he resurrendered? The whale spit him out onto dry land and he was given the opportunity to go and do what God called him to do … and get this … it was wildly successful and not nearly as awful as he imagined.

The prodigal son imagined his father would be so angry at him when he returned. He had a whole speech planned. He was convinced he would no longer be a loved and treasured son, but at least maybe he could be one of the hired help. What awaited his resurrender was more than he could have possibly imagined. A father who ran to him while he still had a long way to go on his return. A father who wanted him back. A father who celebrated his return.

And that’s exactly what we have. A celebration of our resurrender. The enemy wants to burden you with thoughts of shame and guilt. The father wants to celebrate you.

Whatever it is you’ve taken back, today is the day to resurrender it.

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