Devotionals for the Heart: Surrender

The Way of Surrender
A devotional by Jamie De Silvia

“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”—Mark 14:36 (NIV)

I had very little church background when I gave my life to Jesus Christ on Valentine’s Day in 1988. With a great deal of curiosity and determination, I set out to learn all that I could about the One who had saved me. Oh, how I yearn to share with my 16-year-old self the insights and wisdom I've gained since then about walking with Jesus.

I would tell her not to worry so much about her sin, that Jesus went to the cross knowing she would make a million mistakes, both deliberately and unintentionally. I would assure her that our Heavenly Father is carrying her in His hands, not holding her at arm's length in disapproval. I would warn her against wasting years of her life trying to please God by performing in her own strength. I’d tell her that transformation isn’t her job—it’s the Holy Spirit inside her who will accomplish it. I would take her hand, look her in the eyes, and tell her that the answer to every problem and challenge is simply surrender.

Today, I understand what I could not comprehend on that special day 36 years ago: The most important thing for me to practice is letting go of control and putting my full trust in the Lord. It took me a long time to come to this realization because many things are easier than surrender. Worrying, performing, controlling, planning, and analyzing are all easier than surrendering. Jesus Himself showed us when He was pleading with God in the Garden of Gethsemane, how agonizing it can be to lay down your own will and accept God’s will instead.

Surrendering to the Father’s call to the cross was likely the very hardest thing that Jesus was required to do. Laying down His life and saying yes to God caused Him to feel “deeply distressed and troubled” and his soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Mark 14:33-34). This agony was not just about dying. Jesus knew that saying yes to God meant surrendering control over the present moment and the outcome—as well as His body, His voice, His ministry, His disciples, and His life.

According to Mark 14:36 (NIV), Jesus called to “Abba, Father” because God was the only One who could help Him. He professed his faith and trust when He said, “Everything is possible for You.” He still asked for an alternate path when He whispered, “Take this cup from me.” And finally He surrendered with these words: “Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Knowing how difficult this was for Jesus gives us two helpful insights. The first insight is that He understands how hard surrender is to do. Jesus knows that surrender can feel like suffering, and even He wanted to suffer less. He knows it will take a lot of practice for us to learn to let God choose the cup that we drink from, surrendering all other alternatives as He did.

The second insight is that if true surrender pushed Jesus to His limit, how much more will it push us beyond our limits? I am here to testify that we absolutely cannot do it in our own power. We need Jesus to hold our hand and provide the willingness, determination, and power to lay down control of our lives and our will.

Beloved, Jesus sees how hard it is for you to let go. He knows the fear and grief that accompany surrender. He understands your questions and concerns. Share them! Invite Him into your wrestling and then ask Him to help you say, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”

Let’s Pray: Lord, I confess to wanting my own way so much of the time. Open my eyes to see the daily situations that allow me to practice yielding control. Jesus, show me the way of surrender. Teach me to trust in the Father as You did when You were here on Earth. Have Your way in me. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “I Surrender All” by CeCe Winans. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Jamie De Silvia is an author and speaker from Southern California with a passion for helping women connect with the heart of God. She hosts the “Pressing In” podcast.

She has authored two devotional books: Come Hear the Song of the Shepherd (a 30-day devotional journey through Psalm 23), and You Shall Be Praised (a 40-day devotional offering a fresh perspective on Proverbs 31).

You can find her on Instagram and Facebook daily, offering encouragement to help you draw closer to Jesus Christ.

Jamie is married with two adult daughters and a teenage son. She is also a homeschooling mom who enjoys oil painting, playing games with her family, and savoring a good chai latte.

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Connect with Jamie:
Website: https://jamiedesilvia.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiedesilvia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamiedesilviaauthor
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamiedesilvia
Email: jamie@jamiedesilvia.com

Devotionals for the Heart: Conflict

Jesus in the Conflict
A devotional by Mirachelle Canada

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

–Romans 12:2 (ESV)

Since the beginning of creation, our world has been defined by what is active and reactive.

In uncertain times it takes but one voice to claim the spotlight and stir up those willing to listen and then act based upon what they hear. Some join the crowd, while others flee it. Believers in Jesus Christ fall prey to the internal struggle and want to give in or give up. The constant barrage of information, imagery, and conflicting voices leads to desperation, confusion, lack of understanding, and forced reactions full of fear, anger, and resentment. All hope seems lost among the burden to make sense of things and bring the world back to right.

Does this sound familiar? It should. In the book of John, we read of the wondrous things that Jesus does near Jerusalem. The people welcome Him, follow Him, and seek after Him for His miracles. Thousands testify of His great love. Then a sudden a new, less public, voice spreads the rumor among them in John 7:25-26, “Isn’t this the man they were trying to kill? Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah?” Enter Doubt. Confusion. Fear.

The rumors continue to permeate into the people’s hearts. They question their belief in Jesus. What they thought was true becomes twisted into constricting lies. They go out again to seek Jesus but return to their homes manipulated by condemnation of public eyes. Enter Indecision and Division.

Hope is diminishing as the crowds grow restless and accusatory. Yet, it’s all going according to God’s plan for salvation through His son, Jesus Christ. And it is by Jesus’s example in the garden through prayer, reaction, and action (Mark 14:32) that He offers the way through the chaos of conflict.

Silencing the rest of the world, Jesus goes to a Gethsemane with his disciples to pray and seek the Father (God). He takes His trusted friends further in with Him as he faces deep distress (Mark 14:33) to where “His soul was overwhelmed to the point of death” that He asks them to keep watch for Him. Going further into His struggle to accept God’s will, Jesus asks for God’s mercy, that the cup of death would pass from Him (Mark 14:36). Then, He yields to God’s will and not His own. Finally, when He returns to find his friends sleeping, He wakes them with the final warning to watch and pray so they would not fall into temptation (Mark 14:38) as “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 

Only after returning a third time, though everyone was still resting in their own weakness, does he proclaim his readiness to accept that the hour of decision has come (Mark 14:41).

What then can we do when we find ourselves facing the chaos of the world when conflict rises? We can follow Jesus’s example. By way of through the garden of prayer and seeking God, He was prepared to die (to his own will) and accept dying on the cross of Calvary so that we might have life – and life eternal!

So, when we face the problems of the day, let us:

1. Pray and seek the Father (God), through His Son, Jesus, and by way of the power of His Holy Spirit. Repent of any sin in your heart and lay all burdens at the foot of the cross where they are covered by His blood that cleanses us from sin.

2. Ask others you trust to pray and watch over you by interceding on your behalf. Thereby, standing united in Christ with one purpose.

3. Ask God for His mercy over the situation and all who are involved.

4. Yield to the will of God, believing that He knows what is best in the situation and will produce an outcome that is according to His plan.

5. Keep watch and continue to pray, so that you are not tempted to react in the flesh as the world does, but are led by His Spirit with wisdom and truth.

6. Finally, proclaim your acceptance of the will of God with praise and thanksgiving, giving all glory and honor to God because of the victory that is given through Christ Jesus.

By following Jesus’s example, we can rise above the conflict, renew our hearts and minds like Jesus, and having passed the test by seeking and accepting God’s will, we are transformed by His Spirit to receive was is good, acceptable, and perfect in His heart.

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Author Bio:

Mirachelle Canada is a writer, playwright, screenwriter, and theatre director/producer from Northern Virginia, where she teaches television production at her high school alma mater.

She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Script & Screenwriting from Regent University and is an alumnus of Act One: Hollywood Film & Television Writing Program.

Mirachelle is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, American Fiction Writers Virginia Chapter, The Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, and Your Novel Blueprint.

She is currently working on her first historical fiction novel set during WWII.

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Connect with Mirachelle:
Website: www.mirachellecanada.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirachellecanada/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/miracan