Thursday, October 28, 2010

Surrender and Trust

by Donna L. Watkins

One of the verses I focus on in this season of life is Psalm 115:9:
"I will trust in the Lord, for He is my help and my shield."

© 2010 Donna L. Watkins - Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Purple Salvia

The reason it is so special to me is because of Paul's instructions in Ephesians 6:11 about standing against the devil's schemes. He also says in verse 13:

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

He goes on to mention each item of armor we are to dress with for battle. I remember a woman in a previous church we attended that would get up each day and speak those verses and she mentally processed through the procedure of putting on her armor with her hands active in following the directions of her spoken Word.

It always seemed so heavy to me just to think about all that armor ... kinda like David when Saul wanted him to wear his armor to fight Goliath. I felt like God had a better way and I just wasn't seeing the real application.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  (Ephesians 6:12).

I often think of physical things when God is speaking in spiritual terms. One day while I was doing my morning rebounding, which I always do with my Scripture cards, I read the verse I began with above: "I will trust in the Lord, for He is my help and my shield." And a light bulb went on.

HE is my shield if I trust in Him. I don't need to fight spiritual battles in my own strength. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

So there it was again ... God's message to me to surrender and trust. It's been His message to me since May this year. God surely sees how much information we are bombarded with every day, so he gently keeps nudging us with His guidance and growth focus as we walk with Him to be discipled.

Jesus said His yoke was easy and burden light. I never mentally matched that up with all the fighting we're supposed to be doing, especially taking thoughts captive all day long (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Surrender and Trust! How many times have you heard the words to "resist the devil and he will flee from you?" How many times has the sentence before that one been read first? "Submit yourselves unto God." We're so used to "doing it ourselves" in a world that geared to self everything. There's so much self-help stuff out there, yet God is waiting for us to acknowledge that we can't do much of anything without Him. His strength, power, might, wisdom and understanding can be ours if we lean into Him.

© 2010 Donna L. Watkins - Ducklings Following The Mother
We Should Be So Attentive to Follow The Father
So, although I'd read Psalm 115:9 many times before on my Scripture cards ... I now had revelation of how I could 'armor up' without the weight of it all. "I will trust in the Lord, for He is my help and my shield" and Ephesians 6:16 says the shield of faith will quench all the flaming darts of the Wicked one.

To trust you must choose a faith walk and deny the Enemy's attempts to twist your mind and tempt you to sin. Remember he tried to get Jesus to show His own power in the wilderness temptations. Christ used God's Word to overcome the devil and so can you!  We make choices all day long.  If we've allowed ourselves to become weak and make wrong choices, we have to repent and ask Jesus to help you through it.  He's good at helping to set up new life within us, and His strength can be ours.  Is it time for some change in your choices?

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The photo(s) and article are copyrighted. You may use either of them if you include the following credit and active link back to this website: © 2010 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission from TheNatureInUs.com. The link to use is: www.TheNatureInUs.com.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You mention your scripture cards in Surrender and Trust. Are these some that you have chosen for yourself? Would you share with us? Perhaps you have, and I have been inattentive and missed this. Thank you.

sharingsunshine said...

When ever I feel a particular Scripture is important or it's one I need to build faith in a certain area or challenge, I write it on an index card (and oftentimes just on a piece of paper at hand). The pile has grown considerably and I've enjoyed doing this for many years.

For the past year, I go through them much more since I've decided to do that while I am on my rebounder each day. I've been able to memorize verses this way by focusing on just a line at a time. It's amazing what your mind will commit to memory with repetition. I never memorized things easily, but this works.

As to sharing them ... I suppose I could key them in at some point and make a post of it. That sounds like a great winter project. I'm making a list of those to have a focus on while there is no garden or outdoor time with the Lord.

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