What the Bible says about Commit Your Way to the Lord
(From Forerunner Commentary)
A number of years ago, bumper stickers proudly bearing the motto, "God is my co-pilot," became popular. A short time later, astute individuals began promoting an answer to this pithy saying: "If God is your co-pilot, switch seats!"
This vignette shows two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, we are most comfortable leading the way in whatever charge captures our fancy at the time, trusting—often erroneously—that God is right there with us. On the other hand is the unassailable truth that, if God is not leading the charge, we are in the wrong role—and dabbling with disaster.
Allowing God to direct our lives, without continually advising, complaining, recommending, suggesting, and giving input on the details, goes against the natural inclination within us. Yet, experience has taught us that it is only when we finally give up, ceding sovereignty to the Almighty—who really had it all along—that things begin moving. Ultimately, matters work out far better with God in control than anything we could accomplish with our limited vision. Truly, the crucial first step on the journey—surrendering—is most often the hardest. A man can be nominally obedient to God's instructions, yet still not be surrendered to the rule of God.
The story of Jonah is about such a man, a prophet who grudgingly complies but never truly surrenders to God's will. Just three verses into the book, he is fleeing from God's presence rather than yielding to His instructions. God sends a mighty tempest to create a crisis, a point of decision on the part of Jonah and the sailors (Jonah 1:4-16). To a degree, Jonah surrenders when he instructs the sailors to cast him overboard, yet it appears to be the capitulation of a man giving up on life rather than giving his life in obedience (Jonah 1:12).
When God commands Jonah a second time, he complies, preaching the message God gave him for the Ninevites (Jonah 3:1-4). However, he becomes angry when God's Word—through him—accomplishes its purpose, and Nineveh repents (see Isaiah 55:11). Jonah is obedient in terms of following orders, but he does not surrender to God's will when things turn out differently than he expects. As when he was on the ship, he would have rather died than live with circumstances that were not to his liking (Jonah 4:3, 8-9). Up to the abrupt ending of the book, we see a nominally obedient Jonah, yet a man never fully surrendered to the rule of God. The last we see of him, he is in despair over a life that is not according to his terms.
In stark contrast to Jonah is Jesus Christ. He did not seek His own will, but that of the Father (John 5:30). He always did what pleased the Father (John 8:29)—not merely obeying, but surrendering to His Sovereign. He taught His followers to pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Luke 11:2). The night before He surrendered His life for us, He plaintively told His Father, "Not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36); "Your will be done" (Matthew 26:42); and ". . . nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done" (Luke 22:42). "I do not want to go through this," He said in essence, "but, Father, I surrender."
The outcome of this supreme surrender to God's rule is without parallel. Not only have all things been put under Jesus Christ, but the way was opened for the blotting out of sin and the beginning of the restoration of the relationship between God and man that was fractured in the Garden of Eden. When a man cedes sovereignty to the Almighty, things begin moving and ultimately work out far better than anything that could be accomplished with limited human vision.
The apostle Paul teaches in Ephesians 5:24 that "the church is subject to Christ." An ancillary meaning of this is that the church is composed of those who are subject to Christ. The church—the Body of Christ—consists of those who are subject to the rule of God in all of its implications and not merely grudgingly obedient. Those who are regenerated by the Father are those who, like their Elder Brother, regularly and continually come to the place in their lives where they say, "Father, I surrender. Not my will, but Yours, be done." When we truly give up, we tell God that we are finally ready for Him to act.
David C. Grabbe
Surrender
Sometimes, we tend to make things a bit too theological and difficult, wanting to know all the facets and permutations of a doctrine, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of faith, it is trusting Him, taking God at His word and believing it. In its most basic form, faith can be expressed in the sentiment, "If God said it, that's good enough for me!"
We grapple with the definition that the author of Hebrews pens in Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We look in various Bible translations for one that will make it plain, something like "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see" (New English Translation). We delve into the Greek words for a clearer picture of the author's intent. We pore through commentaries for learned opinions about the verse—and we may still come away scratching our heads.
We know from verses like Hebrews 11:1 that faith is not simple in all its theological ramifications, but in its everyday use, it is not difficult. While He does not use the word "faith" on this occasion, it is what Jesus alludes to in Luke 11:28, "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" His declaration is reminiscent of the times when people—usually Gentiles—came to Him for healing and simply believed that, in saying the sick person would be healed, all was well. That was the case when the centurion asked Him to heal his servant, and Jesus "marveled, and said to those who followed, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel'" (Matthew 8:10).
The apostle Paul, speaking of the faith of Abraham, calls him "the father of us all" (Romans 4:16). What marked the greatness of Abraham's faith? Paul answers for us in Romans 4:3, quoting Genesis 15:6: "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." The patriarch trusted God's promise that his descendants from the then-unborn Isaac would be as the number of stars in the heavens (Genesis 15:3-5). God's promise was good enough for him. It would happen just as God had said.
His faith in God's Word sustained him when, years later, God tested him: "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and . . . offer him . . . as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you" (Genesis 22:2). How could his offspring be as numerous as the stars if Isaac died before having children? So, when Isaac asked where the lamb for the offering was, Abraham answered in faith, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering" (verses 7-8). He went so far as to bind his son and raise the knife, knowing, in faith, that God would intervene or perform a resurrection so that His promise would not be broken.
Such is the simple faith God desires us to display in the course of our daily lives. Paul teaches that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Faith comes and grows when we hear God's Word and believe it, trusting God to do as He has said. So David writes in Psalm 37:5: "Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." That is a promise we can count on!
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Simple Faith