Seasons and Surrender

Friends, I'm just returning from a marriage retreat. This weekend is something I look forward to each year - the getting away and the getting away with my hubby.

The speakers talked about seasons of life. My hubby often speaks of seasons, saying that this is just the season we are in. But our retreat speakers got a bit more specific.

We were to think of the spring as new beginnings like when you are newlyweds or have a baby. The summer time is a busy time of tending the garden and work. Then the fall is a time to enjoy the fruits from the labor of summer.

I realized that after turning fifty this year that I was thinking I should be going into the fall season. I was ready to enjoy some of the fruits of our labor and maybe have things slow a bit. But then God plopped a new job into my lap. And He turned right around and gave me SURRENDERED as my word of the year.

Now I get it. God wants to make sure I keep myself in a surrendered posture so He can lead and show me the work for this summer season. I won't lie. I am experiencing some frustration, wanting to be in the fall season. But God has never let me down in this adventure with Him. I know I can trust Him.

There's a verse in 2 Kings where the king of Judah is told to surrender to the king of Babylon. What a downer, right? I mean, this is God's instruction to the king of Judah. But when I read this verse and the passage surrounding it, I realized that sometimes surrendering isn't at all what I want to do. I'm sure the king of Judah would have preferred God worked things out another way. But God is God and He has His way. If I'm to follow what He has in store for me, I may have to surrender to some things I would rather not surrender to.

All this to say, I have to surrender to the fact that God has me in the summer season. He's having me cultivate and tend and work longer. I've reminded Him that I'm not as young as I used to be, but He provides the strength.

So on this journey to discover why God would have me use the word SURRENDER as my guide word for the year, I've realized a part of it. Now it's time to stop whining and get to work. Oops! A little groan eeked out. Sorry. But I'm still working on this total surrender.

Have you ever had to surrender to God's ways when you would have preferred your own? Share with us a little about that. Please encourage us in this surrender path.