Surrender Redefined

Sorry it has been a while since I wrote last. I journal so much, then by the time I get on here I dont have much to say. I wanted to share a poem I wrote:

A pen in the hand of a writer

yielding to its every word.

A brush in the hand of a painter

spilling its masterpiece.

Clay in the hand of the potter

molding to his every desire.

Scissors in the hand of a stylist

cutting away dead pieces of no worth.

A guitar in the hand of a musician 

as fingers pick the melody of love.

Shoes on the feet of a runner

trampled under the race of ambition. 

An orhestra in the hands of a composer

who has complete control.

I at your feet, yield to your will

make it my will also.

Write my story to mirror

the work of Christ.

paint my life on the canvas of faith

so the world might view you differently.

Mold me into the woman you have

planned me to be from the beginning.

Cut away burdens and guilt,

wash me in forgiveness.

Let me sing your love for 

all the nations to hear.

Equip my feet with the readiness

of the gospel, to be pressed under the

ambition for all to know. 

Direct my life which you have composed.

Fully surrendered am I. 

Surrender was something that became very prominent last year in China, but it has come up yet again... As all the images in the first stanza have a certain role of submission to the thing/person that dominates the object, so also might I be in complete surrender to Christ.

A good friend shared Acts 20:24 with me and I want to share it with you. It says, "But I do not count my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I have received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." This is such a beautiful example of Paul's complete surrender. He disregards the value of his life in order to spread the gospel. (Philippians 3:4-11) His ambition in Romans 15:20 is to preach the gospel. His desire in Romans 10:1 is that the Romans would be saved. I sat on my bed this morning and begged Christ to make this my desire, my ambition and my only aim.  He longs for the church in Thessalonica to stand firm in their faith and he is so "affectionately desirous" of them that he wants to share not only the gospel but himself also. I have learned so much from Paul just in the short time that I have been in India. I have learned to not "grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up." Galtians 6:9... Also that I must boast in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), die to myself daily, and be wiling to "spend and be spent" (2 Corinthians 12:15) to exhaustion for the peace of those who do not know...  (It seems as if God is always reminding me of these things.)

This is a high calling but I have faith that God has fully equipped me for the ministry that He has called me to. (Hebrews 13:21) And though at times I feel that I don't know how to be spent for souls, or what exactly it looks like to die to myself daily... God's grace is sufficient for every moment and by His word I am being taught, reproved, corrected and trained for righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16) What a work he has begun and how faithful He is to complete it. I am clay in my Potter's hand and a poem for Him to write. I will never understand, but I am thankful nonetheless. 

I pray that you are blessed today as you are reminded of the life we find in the word of God.