Yesterday, I had the privilege of hearing Priscilla Shirer preach a full sermon online at Life Church. In a message about full surrender to Jesus, she related how she’d stayed a luxurious, 20,000-square-feet home. The hostess meant to be gracious. But she had a habit of politely telling Shirer and the other guests what they couldn’t do. It didn’t make Shirer and the other women with her feel welcome or comfortable.
Shirer’s point was that you can either give God freedom in all of your heart or you can try to control which rooms He enters. You can either allow Him to be fully God in complete surrender, or you can try to put Him in a box of what you think He is supposed to be.
So, I asked myself, “Am I really building a life where God and others would feel at home?”
If I’m honest, the answer that makes me a little queasy in my stomach is no. But that’s not how I want it to be.
Why did I lock the door?
Growing up, I had only the dreams I made for myself. And I clung to my plans and my strategies around making those dreams reality because without that vision, I had no sense of orientation. Nobody else was telling me where to go or what I was capable of. So, I had to create the targets and tools for myself. And as Shirer preached, I knew that the way I’d been trying to build success was the room I’d been keeping locked. It was the space in me I was afraid Jesus would somehow “mess up.”
We can surrender the keys to the Good Captain
Maybe you’re in a similar position today. Maybe you’ve been going after a target for so long you don’t even know what life would be like to not be in charge of it anymore. You might feel scared to death that if you let go of the rudder and surrender, the ship will crash into the rocks.
But I remind you as I remind myself: Jesus has been in boats before. He quieted what might have brought disaster. He taught calmly from the vessel. At his direction, fishermen brought in more fish than they ever had in a single catch.
So, I don’t want to tell Jesus where He can and can’t go anymore. I invite you to use the link above to listen to Shirer’s full message. Ask yourself what rooms in you are locked, too. As you do, pay careful attention to what Shirer says about our culture and the “business of Christianity.” I’ve highlighted it in the clip embedded below. You might need to come face to face with the fact you’ve bought into this reality to give Him all the keys He needs to save you.
Image credit:
Hai Nguyen from Pixabay
John Collins from Pixabay