Because I said so.

Last week we started talking about how the cross was surrender. We talked about how we are to relate to God and how we can sometimes become too familiar with God to the point of disrespecting Him or treating Him as an equal. We ended with this, “We can relate to God as children. But even so we need to remember who He is and the distinction between His role as our Father and our role as children.”

What does our role as God’s children look like? I think our earthly parents model that for us. So what does the Bible say about that? Ephesians 6:1-3 says, “Children, if you want to be wise, listen to your parents and do what they tell you, and the Lord will help you. For the commandment, “Honor your father and your mother,” was the first of the Ten Commandments with a promise attached: “You will prosper and live a long, full life if you honor your parents.”

While we may outgrow being natural children, we will never outgrow being God’s children. If we need to listen to and obey our natural parents who are flawed and imperfect, how much more do we need to listen to our Father God and do what He says?

If that verse applies to our natural fathers, how much more should it apply to or heavenly Father? Our verse doesn’t tell us to do only the things we agree with. It tells us to listen and do. So how do we get to “Lord, Your will must be mine” as modelled by Jesus in Luke 22:39-42? Firstly, by praying. Jesus was praying before He got to that point. Our verse today tells us that when we listen to our parents and we do what they tell us, God helps us. Yes, God helps us to obey. God helps us to surrender and walk out that surrender. So we cannot skip the very first step which is prayer and which is our way of aligning our hearts and minds with God’s heart and mind over the situation.

How else do we make God’s will our own? By laying down our own opinions. Laying down our perspective. Laying down our very lives so that God’s will is done in our lives, whatever that may look like. It is trusting God with our lives in the same way Jesus did. Jesus is evidence that God will do what He said He would do!

For the most part, people are scared to surrender because they don’t believe God is a good Father. I have heard people question why God would send Jesus to the cross. The cross was the only way God could redeem us. Also Jesus had a choice and He chose the cross.

The Bible says Jesus was the Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the earth were laid, Revelations 13:8. Meaning, before God created us, before He created the world, He knew somewhere along the way we would mess up and He decided ahead of time that when that happened, He would come and die for us. Jesus didn’t just wake up one day as a baby thinking, what just happened and where am I? Jesus was fully aware and cosigned to the plan before the earth was created.

That’s how much He loves us. So when God is asking us to surrender, it is always because His way and His plan is way better than ours. The more we surrender to Jesus, the better life gets. We begin to prosper and find that our lives are full, just as promised in Ephesians 6:1-3.  So as we begin to relate to God as His children, there is an element of trust there. That He is a good Father who loves us so much and would do anything for us! If He gave us Jesus, what could He possibly withhold from us? He is such a good Father.

It may be hard to come to terms with especially if your earthly father was not particularly good. But God is not human, neither is He flawed or working with some hidden agendas. God’s love is pure. So we surrender to His will for our lives even when we don’t understand and especially when it does not make sense because we know that He is a loving Father and also, He is God and surrender is something He requires of us. It is not a matter that is up for discussion.

I remember as a child when I would question something my parents asked me to do, they would say, “because I said so.” And that was a complete answer. It was annoying but it trained my soul to obey when I didn’t understand, when I didn’t have the answers or when it didn’t make sense. Is it easy? No. But is it doable? Absolutely. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. If we want to do well in life, we have to teach our soul to listen to God and do what He says, if for no other reason, because He said so. Surrender is a choice. Once you make the choice, God will help you walk it out.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.