A few days ago, another precious life of a stunningly beautiful 20 years old girl, an international figure on the coveted ramp of modeling, made a shocking international news because of her untimely death by committing suicide at the prime of her success. Before this terrifying incident, friends overheard her asking if she will be able to find her life. Was she really serious in asking that kind of question? Was she really feeling lost while the limelight was on her? Had she found the meaning of life she won’t give a saddening verdict on her own plight.
So where was God in her life? If God is love and great in power, won’t He be able to rescue her from falling into a tragic end? Of course! God is more than able to do it. And because God transcends all space, there was no instance in her life that escaped the consciousness of the Infinite God. I am sure God was there extending His arms; if only she reached out her hands to Him. The Epistle of James 4:8 declares a resounding hope for all mankind “Come near to God and He will come near you.” The Gospel of Matthew 11:28 records the most consoling invitation to all those in dire need saying, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Man can pray without surrendering His life to God. But man can’t come to God without surrendering his life to Him.
God is calling us to come to Him, and He to us. This is His rightful command to all of us who believe. Come to God instead of staying steady waiting for His blessings to come within our reach.
To come to God is to completely surrender our life to Him – our plans, our goals, our career, our loved ones and friends, our time, thoughts and our heart. God wants to possess our whole being. We are commanded to love God with all our heart, strength and soul because it is only in our total surrender to His Lordship that God can work and accomplish His plan in our lives. God knows that if we hold back even .01% of our life from His full control, that minute fraction can take Him out of the stirring wheel and put Him at the back seat losing the control of our direction in life and leaving us in a wayward condition going nowhere.
To come to God is to know Him, to desire Him and to put His interest, His agenda, His purpose, His delight over ours which will open the windows of heaven where our Father God dwells to shower us with blessings beyond what we can imagine.
It is God’s delight to reward and bless a hundredfold to all those who come to Him with no reservations (Mark 4:8 & 20). Nevertheless, that hundredfold can be thirtyfold if you come to Him holding back whatever any areas of your life. Perhaps, you have the thirtyfold because you’re blessed with a beautiful house, sporty car and good job but still perplexed and confused with a dysfunctional family. Or you can have the sixtyfold because aside from having a beautiful house, sporty car and good job, you’ve got an ideal family but still in dilemma because the uncertainties of the future keeps you in the state of fear and worries. But if you give God everything, withholding nothing, worries and all, it is God’s guarantee that He will release that hundredfold blessings to give you a satisfying, fulfilled and meaningful life – a life filled with joy and peace – a life which is not affected by any untoward events, circumstances and people. You have no fear of bad news when you place your wholehearted trust in the Lord (Ps. 112:7).
Which life of blessings are you enjoying – the thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or the hundredfold fulfilled life in God?