Surrendering to God & Cleansing Our Soul

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”  Isaiah 26:3 NLT

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On February 6^th, 2018, SpaceX, a small commercial aerospace company, made history when it launched the test flight of Falcoln Heavy – the world’s most powerful, low-budget, reusable rocket.

To make a statement, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk – also the founder of PayPal and Tesla – decided he’d replace a typical “test payload” of concrete or steel blocks with a $200,000 fire-engine red Tesla convertible.  Within minutes after the launch, the Tesla was released into low Earth orbit.

Behind the wheel sat dummy astronaut “Starman,” jamming to David Bowie’s “Life On Mars” as he literally took a spin around the Earth!  Inscribed on the dashboard were two words:  Don’t Panic!

But perhaps even more amazing than a Tesla orbiting Earth was that the two side boosters used to propel the payload into space successfully and simultaneously landed on designated targets at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  The “double booster landing” was dubbed the coolest thing ever seen by Musk and millions of others. 

The event piqued my curiosity and prompted me to investigate how this was possible.  How do rockets traveling at supersonic speed turn around, reenter Earth’s atmosphere, and land with such accuracy and precision?

I found the answer: In layman’s terms, they were intricately and specifically designed for that purpose.

Every last detail, from the inertial navigation system (INS) to the titanium grid fins that guided their flight, was created to enable their landing and reuse.  However, in order it to be successful, the following had to occur:

1. The side boosters had to shut off their internal engines and separate from their center core, enabling the force of gravity to pull them back down to Earth. 

2. The side boosters had to employ GPS, INS, and a number of other high-tech mechanisms to locate, zero in on, and stay focused on their targets. 

3. They had to slow down, initiating a re-entry burn and a pre-landing burn to reduce aerodynamic forces, heating, and speed so they could safely stick their landing.

Gravity

The morning after the Falcon Heavy launch God caught my attention with the song Gravity by Brian & Jenn Johnson.  Listen to the lyrics, paying particular attention to Verses 1 and 2 below.

[Verse 1]
I get caught up in all these petty things
Losing sight of what matters to You
But then You come and take me by the hand
You say, “Come up here with Me.”

[Verse 2]
Your gravity pulls me close to You
And I can breathe again
Here with You there’s nothing more to say
And it’s clear what matters to You

I’d heard that song dozens of times before, but that day it was like God took a megaphone to the lyrics.  After weeks of reading, praying, studying scripture, and speaking with other believers, God left me with this message:

Dear Child, I see all your efforts to simplify – to declutter your home and your calendar, to pare down your to-do list and to prioritize.

Those things are all good things, but the inner peace you desire – the break from the mental chatter and from carrying the problems of this world on your shoulders – you won’t find it if you stop there.

Simplifying goes beyond decluttering your home, your calendar, and your to-do list – it includes decluttering your mind and cleansing your soul.

I see you searching for answers, reading every book and blog post, trying to map out your step-by step plan to build the life you desire.

Your intentions are good, but you’re making it harder than it needs to be.  In trying to map out the next ten steps, you become too overwhelmed to take the one I’ve given you.  In trying to make decisions before you need to, you expend a tremendous amount of time and energy that steals your focus off of Me, the present moment, and My perfect plan.

“Come up here with Me.” 

In My presence you will find peace.  As you begin to see the world from My perspective, it will become much easier to sort out what is truly a priority and deserving of your time.  As you fully surrender to Me, I will help you chip away at the physical, emotional, and psychological clutter so that you can focus on the things that matter.

But to do that, I need you to trust me.  To “take me by the hand,” I need you to let go…

Of that explanation you think you need, that apology you think you deserve, and that problem you think you need to solve.  Holding on to unmet longings for things you want but don’t yet have is a way of grasping for control and causes mental clutter, which prevents you from fully experiencing My peace.

Of anxiety over making the wrong decision and needing to have all the answers right now.  You’re trying to make your own way when I’ve already promised to do that for you (Isaiah 43:19).  When you forge ahead before you’re ready to do so, you lose sight of Me and what I’m trying to teach you.  Your job is not to lead, but to follow. 

To live a simplified life, you’ll need to let go of what others think and what society deems important.  The world will tell you that peace is found in having more (or fewer) possessions, a greater sense of (job or financial) security, or a life without hardship, but inner peace is not found in your circumstances.  It is found in Me. 

The Premise Behind the Promise

Behind every promise of the Bible is a premise – something God asks us to do in order to fully experience the blessings He has for us.  God promises to keep in perfect peace those who trust in Him and keep their eyes fixed on Him (Phil 4:6-7, Isaiah 26:3).  That peace is a requirement for breaking out of overwhelm and living a focused, purposeful life.

We put our trust in Him by first acknowledging His sovereignty and admitting we can’t do it on our own. 

We put our trust in Him by relinquishing control so we can rest in the simplicity of knowing “it’s all in His hands.”⁴   Surrendering our worries, longings, and every aspect of our life to God isn’t about giving up – it’s about offering them up to God to unburden ourselves from carrying the weight.  It’s not about getting what we want, but being willing to accept whatever He wants and trusting that He will use it for a greater good (Jeremiah 29:11).

If human minds are capable of bringing back rockets from space, how much more can our God bring back those who have wandered away from Him?

If human minds can design rockets capable of locating and landing on targets only a few hundred feet in diameter, how much more can our God design us to seek and to find Him in His omnipresence?

Simplicity is a mindset that occurs when we are Presence-focused.  We were intricately and specifically created to seek Him, know Him, and make Him known.  Without fulfilling this purpose, we feel out of alignment.  

To stay focused on our target and “stick our landing,” we are called to do the following:

1. Shut off our own internal engines and separate from our earthly desires, enabling His “gravity” to pull us close to Him.  We surrender by seeking His will and prioritizing His agenda over our own (Psalm 143:8).

2. Rely on The Bible and the Holy Spirit as our personal navigation system rather than the outside world.  When we find ourselves straying off course, we refer back to His Word to guide us.  Rather than try harder, we learn to trust more.

3. Slow down.  When travelling full speed ahead we lose sight of the target.  A change of pace is necessary for a change in perspective and it is in this renewed perspective that we find simplicity.

Surrender

To fully surrender, we need to turn over the keys to the Tesla, give God the wheel, and climb into the backseat.  We keep our eyes focused on Him and those two words on the dashboard:  Don’t Panic!  It is when we look out into the void of uncertainty or down at the world spinning beneath us that we experience fear. 

Our fears indicate areas where we are trusting God the least.  Rather than grasp for control, we are invited to grow closer to God.  God’s perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18).

Call to Action: Download the list of 12 Tips to Cleanse Your Soul and choose one to work on this week.  In the comments or in our private Facebook group, share how decluttering your soul helps create space for you to focus on what matters most.

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Additional Resources:
20 Songs to Let Go and Trust God
20 Songs to Proclaim God’s Greatness
20 Songs to Find Comfort in God’s Presence
10 Songs to Overcome Defeat and Hopelessness
20 Songs for the Broken in Spirit
25 Songs to Start a Fire in Your Soul & Live for God’s Glory

References:

1. Salazer, Doris.  (2018, February 6).  SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket: By the Numbers.  Space.Com. Retrieved February 7^th, 2018 from https://www.space.com/39603-spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-by-the-numbers.html.

2. CBC News. (2018, February 6).  SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch. [Video File].  Retrieved February 7^th, 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB_nEtZxPog.

3. Young, Sarah. (2004). Jesus Calling.  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

4. Bethel Music.  (2017, January 27).  Gravity (Official Lyric Video) – Brian & Jenn Johnson, After All These Years.  [Video File].  Retrieved February 7^th, 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHlRSZkz5vU.