For all of us on the journey with Christ, there is a tension that dominates our lives. We live in the “already but not yet,” seeing some of the glories of the Kingdom of God while walking in a sin-soaked world. We have tasted of the heavenly, yet are surrounded by the worldly.

Our tension is embodied in our… 

• Strain in daily living yet joy in Jesus
• Function in the ordinary yet longing for the extraordinary
• Grip on control yet hunger for pure surrender

It’s the latter that most defines us. We are a gripped people. Control is our friend, but not a good one. Jesus wants us to release it, but we are co-dependent. We can’t seem to find freedom.

And that freedom comes one step at a time. For the journey with Jesus is all about Him being Savior and Lord. The Savior part is the faith part, believing He’s who He says He is. The Lord part is the surrender part, allowing our lives to reflect that we really believe He is who we say He is.

None of us are ever truly surrendered. And that’s the tension of it all. We long for more freedom, yet grabble with our daily control. And so Christ beckons us, calling us to release it a step at a time.

He reveals the lack of surrender, and we release control on that area. It’s a process repeated over and over again. Each time, joy gets deeper, intimacy richer, and worship more glorious. The key is that we keep the process going.

So for all of us, there’s great encouragement in the journey. For God is mercifully relentless with us, hungry for our surrender and His lordship. And so we remain a surrendered people, always eager (though tough) to lay down each new area He reveals. We allow Him to wrestle with us, and He changes us.

This is the beauty of it all, that God loves us too much to leave us alone. The tension… well, we wouldn’t want it any other way. We’re only in trouble if we are ever not embracing that tension and pursuing that surrender.

Please move, Lord, and wreck our lives for your glory. We love you above all else.