When I was a little girl, my dad took me to see the movie Ever After in theaters. It was such a fun daddy-daughter date. I still remember seeing the opening credits - the beautiful landscape and the scrolling title in a vibrant purple. Before the story even began I knew I was in for a treat. As the story continued I found myself admiring the main character for her humility and willingness to serve, even when she was mistreated. That's not to say that she always responded to her masters well, but I recognized godly humility in her that I was sorely lacking in myself. There was, and still is, a part of me that saw being a servant as romantic. The idea that you could have such a heart of service and humility that you could unconditionally love and serve even a cruel master.
I may have focused in on service and humility at the time but, looking back, the real star of the film is surrender. It is the giving up of one's rights and even one's will and placing oneself under the authority of another. This brings to mind Romans 6:16 which says, "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedience from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (6:16-19)
I have to admit, the idea of surrendering as a slave is at the same time confusing, terrifying, and beautiful. I understand what being a slave to sin is—I fight the urge to serve my sinful flesh on a daily basis--but understanding that I am now a slave to righteousness is a bit more difficult, particularly because I continue to sin so often! So if I have been freed from my bondage to sin and yet continue to present myself to sin as a servant, then I suppose the opposite would be to surrender and present myself instead to righteousness. This would require me to die to my self/flesh, to silence my self in the midst of temptation, and choose instead to serve my Good Master.
This is easier said than done because complete surrender requires complete faith and trust in the one to whom you surrender. I have to trust that the Lord, to whom I surrender my will, will do 'right' by me. The problem is that sometimes what I think is right and what the Lord knows is right are different, and sometimes the Lord's best for me involves significant pain and suffering. And another thing - God's best is not about me. It's about Him. So even in seeking my best interest, His best interest (His glory) is always the first priority. My selfish flesh tends to be mildly concerned about this at times because I want the first priority to be ME!
Yet despite these concerns, the act of surrender is so beautiful. Jesus is the prime example as He surrendered Himself to the will of the Father in order to pay the price for our sin. As He thought about the suffering He was about to endure, He wept and event, for a moment, wished that the Father’s work could be accomplished another way. But He was obedient and self-sacrificing, and He surrendered His life and will to the Father, ultimately accomplishing our salvation.
Well, let's try to take this beyond a cup of coffee. I don't really know what I can do to surrender more to the Lord apart from literally sitting down and asking him to help me. It goes a bit against my [sinful] nature to let go of everything in preference of another. But clearly it's worth it. Our master is good and kind and just and perfect. It's almost silly NOT to surrender to Him. So today I'm just going to start with asking the Lord to help me let go and surrender to His service and glory.
