The greatest burden we are to carry in life, is the burden of SELF. What SELF wants! The most difficult thing to manage in life is SELF. SELF seems to have a stubborn determination to have its way.
What is SELF?
It is the I in my daily living, my frame, and my feelings. It is those special weaknesses and temptations, that peculiar temperament that is me. It is my inward affairs of the heart, the workings of my mind that result in inward and outward experiences.
This self is what rules me and leads me into dark paths of bondage and darkness. It is a self that defaults in sin and darkness and for which there is no hope. We ourselves have tried to manage self and failed. We have tried to make ourselves who we ought to be, but we have realised that we have no control over SELF.
We like Paul in Romans 7:17-24 MSG, cry:
“But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway… … It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me?”
Like Paul, all of us identify with the burden of SELF that we carry. What do we do with this burden of self? Paul gives us the answer in the first verse of Romans 8, the answer is to lay off this burden to Christ then…
Lay Down the Burden
- We abandon SELF to God. The only way to deal with SELF, is to give it to God.
- We give Him the burden of SELF and keep it there.
It is the entire surrender of the whole person to God which means spirit, soul, mind and body are placed under His absolute control for Him to do with just as He pleases.
It is the total yielding of SELF to the Spirit to do His work.
The language of our hearts becomes “Lord, thy will be done.”
We choose to give up the liberty of our choice and choose a life of obedience to His way and start living with a “Yes Lord” attitude. We give the Spirit full control. “Finally,” says God!
“Hard,” you say.
Our SELF rises in rebellion and distrust.
We God’s children are distrustful or even afraid of His will for our lives – perhaps even more afraid of his will for our lives than anything else about our lives. What happens if I give Him all of my SELF? Can He be trusted to do what is good for me? What will He do to me if I give Him my SELF?
But He is our Father in Heaven, a good father who knows what is best for us. His will for us is the best for us. He has made you, created you in the darkest place (Psalm 139) and He understands You and knows HOW to manage the SELF in you.
Will you give Him the burden of SELF and let the Spirit have HIS way in you?
- In what ways have you tried to be the person God wants you to be in your own strength? How did it go? Can you identify with Paul who declares that it is impossible to control SELF?
- Have you noticed how your SELF will rebel against the giving up of its rights and surrendering them to the will of God? Have you identified the voice of SELF in you, telling you that God is not to be trusted and that if you give yourself to Him, He will ….
- Are you afraid of God’s will for your life? Can you truthfully say to God, “Lord, thy will be done in my life.” If not, why do you think this is?
- To what extent do you recognise that to say: “Thy will be done,” is to give up your right to choose what will happen to your life? Are you ready to trust God? What do you need to do?
Thy Will Be Done
Lord, all to You I will surrender, all of myself I give to You. I will choose to rest in Your love and trust You, living in Your presence each day with the help of the Spirit. All to You my blessed Saviour, I give up all of me to You. Fill me Spirit with Your power, change me where I cannot change myself. Make me who You would want me to be, redeem me, all for Your glory and not mine.
Trusting God’s Process towards Promise
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