Learning To Give Him Total Surrender, Asking For God's Help

In review of 2 Corinthians 1:9 it says, “We ... saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead.”

Bottom Line:

Stop trusting in yourself, and put your trust and hope in God. He can do anything.

What this means to me:

I need to realize that I am powerless on my own to help myself, especially when the situations get tough. Instead, I need to rely on and put my complete trust in God. He can do anything. The first part is admitting that I need help. I need to swallow my pride, my sense of I can do it all and ask God for help. Move from confession, (I need help) to petition (provide the assistance I need.)

At one point in his life, the apostle Paul was so discouraged that he was ready to give up on life. In fact he said, “We felt we were doomed to die” (2 Corinthians 1:9 LB). Then he went on to say in the same verse, “We ... saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead.”

If God can raise a dead person, he can raise a broken relationship, a dead career, a dead dream. Anybody can bring good out of good. Only God can bring good out of bad. He can do miracles! But I’ve got to ask God for his help.

Notice that the verse says, “We put everything into the hands of God.” Paul is talking about total surrender. It’s not partial surrender where you say, “My finances are in a mess, so I’m going to give God my finances.” I’ve got to give him all of my life! I’ve got to put everything in his hands.

The good news is that I don’t need to wait until I hit bottom on an issue. Often I’m so obstinate God has to lay me flat on my back to make me look up to him. There’s an easy way and a hard way to do this. The easy way to change is to see the light. The hard way is to feel the heat. The problem is most of us rarely change until our fear of change is exceeded by the pain. Then when the pain gets so great we go, “Oh, I’ve got to get help!” I shouldn’t allow myself to get to that place where everything has to drop out in my life for me to admit I need help.

I just need to go and ask God for help.

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule” (Matthew 5:3 MSG).

Today, I will consider what areas I may have only give partial surrender to, and instead offer everything in my life, the good, the bad, the ugly, the rotten, the happy, the sad, the ups, the downs. I will put it all in God’s hands.