Abandon Yourself Entirely To God: Examining The Concept Of Surrendering To God's Will Series

Abandon yourself to God.

What does it mean exactly? When we become a follower of Jesus, we are renouncing, or throwing off our old ways of life. And we’re choosing a new way of life. A life which is now fundamentally under the command and control of God Almighty.

We abandon ourselves to God. We surrender control of our lives to Him in a very practical way.

Madam Guyon said it like this, “You must come to the Lord and there engage in giving up all your concerns. All your concerns go into the hand of God. You forget yourself, and from that moment on you think only of Him.”

Now I know what many of you are thinking, can someone really do that? Is that possible? Yes honestly, we can do that.

It’s simply doing it. Instead of sitting and worrying about it and wondering if it’s possible, it’s sitting down in prayer and asking God to make it happen.

Prayer: "Lord, we give all our worries and concerns to you. We put our lives in your hands. We forget ourselves, and we focus only on You. In Jesus name, amen."

As with so many aspects of the Christian life, it’s a little miracle that it really happens, because in ourselves we could never abandon ourselves to God.

But it is quite possible.

As Jeanne Guyon said, “Be careful; do not listen to the voice of your natural reasoning. You can expect just such reasoning to well up within you. Nonetheless, you must believe that you can abandon yourself utterly to the Lord for all your lifetime and that He will give you the grace to remain there! You must trust in God, "hoping against hope? (Romans 4:18)”

The scriptures give a good word about this, from Psalm 46:10 ESV “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Be still, and know that God is God and let him be in control.

Another powerful scripture about letting God run our lives is this one from Proverbs…

Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

Here is another powerful statement from Madam Guyon about abandonment to God, “What is abandonment? It is forgetting your past; it is leaving the future in His hands; it is devoting the present fully and completely to your Lord. Abandonment is being satisfied with the present moment, no matter what that moment contains. You are satisfied because you know that whatever that moment has, it contains—in that instant—God's eternal plan for you.”

Let's break it down...

1. It’s forgetting your past, leaving behind old patterns

2. It’s trusting God for the future

3. It’s allowing God to be in charge in the present

4. It’s been satisfied with God’s will in the moment, that’s it’s just right

5. It’s trusting that in this moment what’s going on is God’s perfect will

This is linked with a concept in the scriptures called humbling ourselves before God. It’s a good reminder to pray a lot, pray on our knees, and submit to Him completely.

As it says in 1st Peter 5:5-7, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." -1st Peter 5:5b-7

I know this can seem difficult to abandon ourselves to God, to give everything over, but there are many benefits. We don’t have to be afraid. We aren’t in charge. God is.

I remember when COVID hit in 2020, and everyone became frantically afraid. And I had to ask myself, wait Justin, whose in control? Is it you? Or is it God? I knew God was in control. So I abandoned myself to Him. And I wasn’t near as afraid anymore. I could rest in His protection and know that whatever happened, it would be ok. Even if I died, I would be ok.

It’s freedom from fear to trust in God. We can cast all our anxieties on Him, and he cares for us, and removes our worries.

It reminds me of recovery groups. The first three steps of the 12 steps say: First, we surrender and admit that our lives have become unmanageable.

Second, we come to believe that God can restore us to sanity

Third, we turned our will and our lives over to the care of God.

This concept of surrender and coming to believe and turning ourselves over to God is biblical. It reminds me of Luke 9:23-24…

Luke 9:23-24 ESV And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”