My Rights

Our missions pastor, Tim, has given incredible sermons for the past two weeks.

This week he talked about how we are holding things so tightly in our fists. In one fist, holds the negative fleshy stuff that we know we need to get rid of. Pride, selfishness, greed, gossip, etc. In the other fist, we are squeezing all of the "good things" that we really think we ought to hold on to. I realized during that sermon that "my rights" are clenched so tightly in that fist holding the good things. I do not want to surrender my rights. This week has been an incredible week of me learning what it feels like to surrender even the good things...my rights, my dreams, my goals, my hard work, the things I "deserve," acceptance from others, comfort, my family, my house, my cars. Really, everything. Christ was crucified and I was crucified with Him. My old self is gone, yet I have a death grip on my old dreams and my old ways.
The more Christ leads me through this surrender, the better my life gets. Surrender is such a difficult and painful thing. Only He can do it in us as a work of grace.
A.W. Tozer, in The Pursuit of God, speaks of the deep root that is torn out of us when we surrender our self-life.
Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us...to tear it away it to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. It is never fun to die...God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust.
The end result is so worth it though when we are finally able to experience the wonder and fullness of Christ's life in us and through us.