Dead Wait.

During Sunday's sermon, Reverend Dr. Bud Reedy shared part of his testimony with us. Near the end of the testimony Pastor Bud made a profound declaration about his experience of God's faithfulness: "That which I have surrendered, He has kept."

"Surrendered." It's a word that we often associate with defeat. But for the Christian, the act of surrendering our will and our desires to God is an act of victory. We are no longer ruled by our circumstances. There is no longer any earthly situation that holds our hearts captive. Fear cannot paralyze us anymore.

Let us surrender ourselves, and our concerns, to the Lord who loves us. When we give all we have (and all we are) to the service of our King, then He becomes our focus. When we are convinced that God knows everything (and knows what is best), then He becomes the Director and Governor of our lives. When we trust His timing (and patiently wait for Him), then He responds with a love that never fails to astound us.

The apostle Paul said, "I've been crucified with Christ, and yet I live-- but no! It's not the old me that lives: it's Christ Jesus who lives in me. This life I live in the body is lived through the faith of the Son of God, the One who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20, paraphrase mine.) If our old self has died, then we have made room for the Spirit of Christ to empower us to wait on God. We have no need to take matters into our own hands, because we have placed every matter into the hands of God.

• Have you died to self, selfishness, self-centeredness, self-sufficiency?
• Are you convinced that God can handle your life-situations better than you can?
• Do you see your circumstances through the eyes of Jesus, the One who always operates out of love and never operates out of fear?

Wait patiently for the LORD!
Wait confidently for Him!
Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner,
A man who carries out wicked schemes!
(Psalm 37:7, NET)