I have surrendered. I am home with the flu and bronchitis and I have not felt this yucky, for this long, in quite a while. Webster’s defines surrender as follows: to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner. Yield is also a good synonym. Basically, I have given up trying to live my normally busy life. I have a friend who is very good at telling me I need to slow down. This time I am listening better than usual primarily because I can’t DO anything without making it worse. I surrender!
I surrender to my body’s inability to give me any more…. So I rest. More importantly I surrender to this time of solitude to listen to God. Granted I am listening through the brain fog of flu, but the message is loud and clear. The main word I am hearing is REST. Not only my body, but also my mind and my heart. I have cancelled everything not integral to my healing and I am resting and listening.
The thing about good rest is that it is not just becoming a slug or a sloth, though lying around in a brain fog may have that appearance for a day or two. Good rest is active in the sense that it includes letting go, while paying attention to impressions and to ones heart. True rest is restorative and powerful. Yes, it is powerful.
Isaiah 30:15 “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling,….
18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.
19″…He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
When I quit trying to do it my way, when I surrender to Abba, I am finally able to listen to the best way.
In verse 15 the word returning can also be translated repenting. Both imply a major change of direction, like surrendering. I am sad to think I needed to get this sick to get me to slow down and rest. I am, however, grateful that Abba waits to be gracious to me, to us. He overflows with mercy when we return. He willingly and lovingly reveals Himself and shows us the way. In quietness and trust is my strength. I gratefully surrender to the mercy and justice of the one who made us all!
