08 - Patrick – The Long Road of Surrender and Spiritual Growth
“As I was reminding brother Patrick in this recording, the journey of faith is often long and arduous, far longer and rougher than we initially imagine. Today’s message is about preparing for this journey, understanding God’s perspective, and embracing the process of surrender and spiritual refinement.”
The Long Road of Surrender and Spiritual Growth
As I was reminding brother Patrick in this recording, the journey of faith is often long and arduous, far longer and rougher than we initially imagine. Today’s message is about preparing for this journey, understanding God’s perspective, and embracing the process of surrender and spiritual refinement.
The Christian life is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. The first nineteen years of my walk with Christ, though meaningful to others, now feel insignificant compared to the depth of relationship I’ve found in full surrender to God. We build our lives on the love of the world, pursuing other lovers, accumulating possessions and accolades outside of God's will. "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them" (1 John 2:15). God sees this pursuit of worldly affection as adultery, as enmity against Him. He longs for our wholehearted devotion.
When we invite Him into our lives fully, God most often begins a stripping process, removing the things we’ve acquired outside of His will, even our relationships. He sees many of our spouses as Ishmaels, born not of His promise but of human effort, impatience, and manipulation, like Abraham and Sarah taking matters into their own hands (Genesis 16).
God is jealous for us, and He desires to strip away anything hindering our love for Him. He spent 20 years breaking Jacob, the grabber, who acquired what he wanted, when he wanted, and how he wanted (Genesis 25-33). 25 years passed before Abraham finally received the promised son, Isaac, born not through human effort but through God’s promise (Genesis 21:1-7).
The key to experiencing God's best is to put everything on the table: wife, children, career, finances, hopes, dreams – everything. “Anyone of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). “Lord, we have left everything for you,” Peter declared (Mark 10:28). Surrender everything to Jesus, hold it loosely, and allow Him to give back what He chooses.
This requires patience, a willingness to wait on God. "Be also imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised" (Hebrews 6:12). "I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord" (Lamentations 3:24-26).
