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Ever have a day like this?

The kids are fighting and yelling.Your husband is late for dinner, again.You just found out your best friend spread rumors about you.The phone rings and so does the front doorbell;you answer the phone and it’s the electric company about to turn off your electricity because you forgot to pay the bill.The guy at the door is there to repossess your car!Oh, you also forgot it’s your mother’s birthdayand one of the kids has a school project due tomorrow!
Ever just want to throw your hands up in the air and scream, “I surrender”?

I love the old M*A*S*H series, which takes place during the Korean War in the early 1950s (if you’ve never seen the show). I watched one episode the other day where Hawkeye and BJ (doctors) drove to get a supply of penicillin. On their way back to camp, they wreck the jeep, so they start walking.

A lone, enemy soldier appears and bows to the ground before them. Mystified, the two doctors keep walking. However, not ready to give up his efforts, the man picks up his trusty rifle, points it at them, and starts spouting something they do not understand.

He then drops the rifle and throws his arms up in the air, waving his hands, and yells, “Hulio, hulio, hulio!” (Well, that’s what it sounded it.) In essence, he said, “I surrender! I surrender! I surrender!”

That’s my new hand signal now: arms thrust in the air, yelling, Hulio!

When you have one of those days, when everything comes at you at once, do you ever feel like doing the same thing, screaming, “I surrender”?

But who or what are we surrendering to? Our circumstances? Certainly not the enemy! And we can’t surrender to ourselves. So what is left? We surrender to the Lord. Which should be the action we take in the first place!

When a multitude of voices scream for your attention, when so many scheduled duties clamor for you to perform them all at once, when chaos invades your space, and you want to pull out your hair, then throw up your hands and yell, Hulio, hulio, hulio!

Tell the Lord, I surrender! As the old hymn says...

I surrender all,I surrender all;All to Thee, my blessed Savior,I surrender all.
Surrender it all, and when you do, peace will flow like a river...

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Is it well with your soul on those harried days? As David said, “He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me.” (Ps. 55:18 NKJV)

I love The Message’s take on Matthew 11:28-30, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Wow! Learn to live freely and lightly! Does that resonate with you like it does me?

The Lord says, “Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.” (Isa. 30:15 NLT)

Circumstances may still be the same. But you? If you have surrendered it all to the Lord, you will know peace and bring a calming influence to all you do and to all those around you. You will live freely. Lightly. In quietness. With confidence as your strength.

I have hulio-ed!
Ah! Peace. Like a river. It is well with my soul. Living freely and lightly. How about you?

I love old westerns, especially those filmed in black and white. (I think I’ve mentioned that before!) I grew up on them. I watched one the other day that was 75 years old. Yeah, I know, I’m old! But not that old, yet!

In a typical old western storyline, the female lead is headed for town, riding peacefully in her buckboard, when something spooks the horses and they bolt, giving her a wild, bumpy ride which she cannot control.

Not too far off in the distance sits the hero upon his mighty steed. Hearing her screams for help, he gives his mustang a swift kick with his spurs and bolts off to rescue her. As the horse gallops alongside the runaway wagon, he jumps in and grabs the reins, yanking them under control.

She is so relieved to relinquish the reins and have someone else bring the situation under restraint that she gushes with thanks.

Makes me think of us as Christians. How often do we ride along peacefully in life when, suddenly, we encounter a startling and overwhelming situation? Something happens to jolt our smooth-going wagon of life onto a bumpy, runaway course and we can’t control it.

In our cries for help, our Hero, the One called “Faithful and True” (Rev. 19:11), our Savior on His mighty, white steed, comes galloping alongside us. If we surrender the reins of the situation to the Lord and allow Him to take over, He will bring it under control in His own way and in His own time.

No matter how a circumstance looks to us, God is always in control, especially when we surrender to Him.

This is my prayer; is it yours? “I entrust my spirit into Your hand. Rescue me, Lord, for You are a faithful God.” (Ps. 31:5 NLT)

May all your wagon rides be under control!

(I posted this last year. With a little massaging, I’m reposting it. Hope you enjoy it!)

Last year on Twitter, someone suggested that “rather than making New Year’s Resolutions, we can choose to create New Year’s Solutions.”

That made me stop and think. What is the difference between a resolution and a solution? I looked up the definitions.

The dictionaries say that ‘resolution’ is a formal expression of opinion or intention made. It comes from the word ‘resolute,’ which means to be resolved or determined on a course of action, set in purpose or opinion.

‘Solution,’ on the other hand, means the act of solving a problem or question, an answer.

Only a small percentage of New Year’s resolutions see fulfillment, a humorous dichotomy, given its definition. Initially, most of them are launched with great intentions but slowly, or sometimes quickly, run out of steam.

Determination slides by the wayside. With little acting upon the problem or circumstance, the intended outcome is not accomplished. This is why I’ve never really made any New Year’s resolutions. I knew I would never keep them.

While solution infers the act of doing something, most people just have the solution compartmentalized in their heads or written down on paper. Wanting to change a situation or something about oneself and coming up with a solution to solve or improve it is still not the answer. Just because I WANT something to change and may be determined for it to be so doesn’t mean it WILL change.

I need more than a resolution, more than a solution. While both executed together are preferable, they must be backed with something more…they need to be backed by actual action. Therefore, the meaning of this scripture takes on a new meaning, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Eccl. 4:12b NKJV)

I think I’ve come up with my action, which is my theme for this year. I’ve borrowed it from an old hymn…I Surrender All!

Here are some beautiful portions of the song…

* Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken…

* Make me, Savior, wholly Thine…

* Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.

If I surrender all, then I cannot be a hindrance to the Lord’s plans and purpose for my life. If I do not surrender all, I allow my life to be filled with the same old things, carry-overs from the year now passed.

God said through Isaiah, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Is. 43:19 NKJV)

What exactly do I want in the New Year? Or more importantly, what does the Lord want for me and from me? How do I embark on an action if I have my fingers tightly clenched around all the events of the old year? Do I really want a new thing to happen in my life?

If I desire the best for my life, I must, as the saying goes, let go and let God! I must…surrender all!

Do you desire God to do a new thing in your life this year? Are you dragging all the hurts, sins, regrets, failures, disappointments, and unforgiveness of the old year behind you in a little red wagon or perhaps a U-haul?

Let this year be a year of release. Take action! Surrender it all!

Twitter has taken cyber users by storm. Tweeters (people) use it for numerous reasons. Some use it for making business contacts; others use it for, well, some reasons I’d rather not even think about. But it is great for acquiring all kinds of helpful tidbits on a myriad of topics and for links to interesting sites.

The best reason, and the one for which I use it, is for developing new friendships. I have connected with some awesome and very special people. I praise the Lord for my new Twitter family.

I have connected with one special person, PPureIndulgence, and, in one of her tweets (posts), she posted a link to her blog with the title of her new article…New Year’s Resolution or Solution?

In it, she refers to @CoachBo (on Twitter) who “suggests rather than making New Year’s Resolutions we can choose to create New Year’s Solutions.”

That post made her stop and think. Hers made me stop and think. What is the difference between a resolution and a solution? As she looked up the definitions, so did I.

The dictionaries say that ‘resolution’ is a formal expression of opinion or intention made. It comes from the word ‘resolute,’ which means to be resolved or determined on a course of action, set in purpose or opinion.

‘Solution,’ on the other hand, means the act of solving a problem or question, an answer.

Only a small percentage of New Year’s resolutions see fulfillment. Initially, most of them are launched with great intentions but slowly, or sometimes quickly, run out of steam. Determination slides by the wayside. With little acting upon the problem or circumstance, the intended outcome is not accomplished. This is why I've never really made any New Year's resolutions. I knew I would never keep them.

While solution infers the act of doing something, most people just have the solution compartmentalized in their heads or written down on paper. Wanting to change a situation or something about oneself and coming up with a solution to solve or improve it is still not the answer. Just because I WANT something to change and may be determined for it to be so doesn’t mean it WILL change.

I need more than a resolution, more than a solution. While both executed together are preferable, they must be backed with something more…they need to be backed by actual action. Therefore, the meaning of this scripture takes on a new meaning, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Eccl. 4:12b NKJV)

I think I’ve come up with my action, which is my theme for this year. I’ve borrowed it from an old hymn…I Surrender All!

Here are some beautiful portions of the song…

* Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken…

* Make me, Savior, wholly Thine…

* Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.

If I surrender all, then I cannot be a hindrance to the Lord’s plans and purpose for my life. If I do not surrender all, I allow my life to be filled with the same old things, carry-overs from the year now passed.

God said through Isaiah, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Is. 43:19 NKJV)

What exactly do I want in the New Year? Or more importantly, what does the Lord want for me? How do I embark on an action if I have my fingers tightly clenched around all the events of the old year? Do I really want a new thing to happen in my life?

If I desire the best for my life, I must, as the saying goes, let go and let God! I must…surrender all!

Do you desire God to do a new thing in your life this year? Are you dragging all the hurts, sins, regrets, failures, disappointments, and unforgiveness of the old year behind you in a little red wagon or perhaps a U-haul?

Let this year be a year of release. Take action! Surrender it all!

~~Blessings, Lynn~~