Five Minute Friday ~ The Greatest Surrender Ever

Thanksgiving is behind us.

Christmas is, literally, just days away - unless, of course, you are under the age of 12. Then it still seems like forever and a day away.

And I've had a song playing around in my head that I hadn't thought of for years.

Released way back in 1983 - like, when I was a sophomore in high school (over half of my kids have already achieved that milestone) - this song struck a chord.

Like the song in the wind - Lord you call me again:  surrender.

And I find myself drawn to your voice, as I lean toward the choice: surrender.

Like the echoing sound of the sea - Lord you echo in me: surrender.

Like a dancer I'll follow again, to the music within: surrender.

For the freedom I seek is the word that you speak, running deep as the song of my soul.

To be totally sure and totally yours and totally...surrendered.

Like the song of the rain, you repeat the refrain: surrender.

And I know that your music is mine, and I follow in time: surrender.

For the freedom I seek is the word that you speak, running deep as the song of my soul.

To be totally sure and totally yours and totally... surrendered.

Like the song in the wind - Lord you call me again: surrender.

And at last I can soar like a bird on the wings of the word: surrender.

Surrender is a hard word, for anyone... 

It is definitely counter-cultural and unpolitically correct. It was true way back when - as a competitive swimmer on an almost continuously undefeated high swim team, victory was THE goal. Surrender... giving up and just letting an opponent touch the wall before me... was unthinkable, no matter how bad my lungs and muscles hurt, no matter how hopeless a particular race "felt."

It remains true today - as I consider how hard it is to apologize to my husband or kids, to admit I was wrong and another was right. A cursory glance at social media proves I'm not the only to face this struggle.

Look through some of the common synonyms and idiomatic expressions for the word: abandon, capitulate, cede, concede, give in, hand over, quit, relinquish, renounce, succumb, yield, fall, knuckle, buckle under, cave in, cry uncle, eat crow, eat humble pie, play dead, put up the white flag, thrown in the towel, toss it in... None of these are typically considered favorably.

Once I began speaking and reading in French, the etymology of the word literally jumped off the page ~ literally, it means to give back over.

To return, or give back, to the one who had it originally. 

Thinking about this relative to the Christmas season rapidly descending upon us, I started wondering.  

What was Jesus' greatest act of surrender?

• His incarnation and birth: "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man..." (Phil 2, NIV)

• His submission to human authority: "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.' When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." (2 Pet 2, NIV)

• His submission to death on the cross: "During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent surrender. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." (Heb 5, NIV)

I don't know the answer to that question - but I do know that the second two wouldn't have been possible without the first.

So... as Advent begins, as I look toward Christmas... This year, I'll be spending time meditating upon Jesus and the greatest surrender ever... and remembering that surrender isn't such a bad word.

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Five Minute Friday - set a timer for five minutes and write whatever the given prompt brings to mind. In the interest of transparency, I typically add any photos and links AFTER the five minutes are finished. This time, I also added the Bible verses included (although I did get the references down) as part of this post.

Want to write with us? Head over to Heading Home, Kate Motaung's blog.

Encountering Jesus ~ When Seeing God @ Work Just Isn't What I Expected

When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 

But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 

Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. (John 6.16-21)

I've not spent a large amount of time on boats on the ocean. In fact, I've only spent a very limited amount of time ever on a boat in the ocean... or even on a very big lake. That all changed a few weeks ago when we crossed the Pentland Firth off the north coast of the Scottish mainland.

The swells weren't huge... but definitely big enough to be felt and to toss you around a bit on the boat, particularly if you weren't ready for them. It gave me a whole new respect for those who work, day in and day out, in that sort of environment. It helped me to empathize with the disciples a bit more as they crossed the sea, rowing miles through rough water. I know as we went up, crested and then slid down the swells, more than a few times I had those butterflies you get in your tummy as you ride a roller coaster... or crest a hill a little too quickly driving a car. It wasn't even stormy for our ride... so no reason to be scared at all. I can't imagine what it might have been like in a storm.

So it always amazes me when I read this account, written by John, that John doesn't mention the disciples' fear - until they recognize that Jesus is walking towards them. They see Him doing the miraculous and it terrifies.

As I work and rework my way through John, this is always the truth that literally leaps off the pages as I read and meditate on this account. I want to believe that the presence of Christ, doing the things that only He can do - will only and always ever be calming... it will only ever bring me peace and comfort. Yet here, in this story, they see Christ working a miracle and the result is that they are frightened.

Looking more closely into that word frightened? Well, frightened seems a bit of an understatement when I flip back into my Strong's and check out the Greek. The Greek word used could mean that seeing Jesus walking on the water several miles from shore could have actually put the disciples to flight... rowing as hard and as fast in the opposite direction away from Him as they could. It could also indicate terror, or a state of intense, overwhelming fear. It actually originates from the word where we get our word phobia - or a fear that is so out of control that it totally takes over and dominates when the person is exposed to the stimulus of that fear. 

The biblical text doesn't seem to indicate a mere startle or surprise at finding the Lord with them in the midst of the rising wind and waves.

Jesus doesn't remonstrate them for their fear. He simply reminds them that they can trust Him. They don't need to be afraid by this very big and unusual something that cannot be comprehended - because they can trust Him even when what He is doing is scary. They even risked joining in with Him - pulling Him into the boat with them and the result of that is that they immediately reached their destination.

Every time I read these few verses - the Holy Spirit gently pokes and prods and asks: 

"Where are you, Richelle, balking at joining the Lord as He works... because you find His plans (the situation too scary, too intimidating, too uncomfortable...)???"

How about you?

this week's gratitude list

(#'s 3994 - 4012)

seeing Joe and Andi

meeting Joe's family

seeing my family and watching cousins play and hang out together 
and rediscover each other

catching up with our friend Emily after 1.5 years

Joe and Andi's wedding

excited little flower girls

excited little ringbearer who got to deliver the real rings

excited bridesmaids

a beautiful wedding

hundreds of cookies made

trying lemon zest to find that I like it so much better 
than what the original recipe called for

playing in the surf

watching the amazing power of the wind and waves

getting ready to get back on the road, on our own schedule

anticipation of all the things we will see

knowing when we say goodbye this time, it isn't for nearly so long

surprising emails making me hope we might catch up with friends we didn't expect to see

surviving LA traffic

good news in how Pop-pop has bounced back... praying he stabilizes sufficiently to consider the needed surgery

being at an English church service again... first time in a long time... and it was beautiful

Ten most recent posts in this series: 

• The Capernaum Nobleman (I)
• Meeting Jesus Changes Parenting Priorities - The Capernaum Nobleman (II)
• An Amazing Afternoon Hanging out at the Pool
• When Jesus asks me, what is my response?
• "Arise..."
• "...take up thy bed and walk!"
• Jesus Encounter Take Two
• It's the beginning of a showdown!
• Jesus speaks with the Jews in charge
• "And what would YOU have said? What would YOU have done?"

Click here for all of the titles and their corresponding links in the Encountering Jesus series.

Momentary Confusion... Concentrated Meditation

I was reading something the other day. I can't remember for the life of me what it was, but instead of seeing the word "incarnate" I read the word "incarcerate" and was terribly confused for a few moments until I figured out my mistake.

Then I started thinking about how similar those two words look, really, especially as these 40+ year old less-than-perfect-to-begin-with eyes are beginning to show some of those effects of aging...

and I kept on thinking a bit more...

When Christ became God Incarnate... omiscient, omnipotent, omnipresence clothed and freely limited by frail flesh...

infinite perfection wrapped in human finiteness...

Didn't He, at least in a sense, self-incarcerate?

He chose chains, shackles, imprisonment... the Creator willingly confined by flesh He created...

...the miracle of incarnation,

...Word becoming flesh, dwelling with men as the Divine Man.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Words of Paul then came to mind:

"Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ and Timothy our brother unto Philemon our dearly beloved and fellow labourer..."

The Christ permitted His own fleshly incarceration so that one day, men could bind themselves to Him... so that one day I could bind myself to Him... becoming His captive and thus being set free.

The paradoxes within God's plan are mind-boggling, amazing, marvelous - and every time I think on these things or try to treasure them up in my heart - I am totally overwhelmed.

...This is such a very important part of what Christmas means to me.

a thought and a prayer request

A friend recently posted this as a fb status - and it was too good not to repeat, to share:

This is God's universe.

He does things His way.

You may have a "better" way;

but you don't have a universe!
~J Vernon McGee

This quote caught my eye - because of its truth and also because of who said it: J Vernon McGee, the radio preacher well-known for Thru the Bible - 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, systematic study through the Bible over a period of 5 years...

Which brings me to a huge prayer request - We want to put this program, in French, on the air here in Niger. Tim started downloading Genesis and Matthew from the website, but before he finished, they'd been removed from the website. Now we are trying to get the programs on CD.

We also need to secure funding for the program... we have 4.5 months committed - maybe a little more - but really feel we need 6 months before we can initiate actually purchasing the radio time.

Please pray ~

In this mostly illiterate, desert country where gravel washboard is a GREAT road - radio has been shown again and again as the most effective way to communicate with people, to make that initial introduction to Jesus and the message of a hope and a future...

Words can't describe - it was simply, an amazing, healing night...

Sometimes this place, the people here, take my breath away and leave me speechless...

Always, my God... his holiness, his graciousness... that both exist perfectly in Him and because of Him... and that He gives me vivid glimpses of them in this fallen world... this one who loves words simply has no adequate words...

Except for the Word - God with us - even... especially... when we feel all alone.

I wish I could have captured a picture of the stars... or the moon rising over the crest of the dune... but then the pictures wouldn't, can't, do justice in trying to share that wonderful evening.