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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 Savior,
I surrender all.
The above words are the first verse and refrain from a frequently sung hymn in my childhood church Services. The words are by J.W. Van De Venter; the hymn is "I Surrender All." The words remind us of Jesus saying "may your will be done" in his prayer in the Garden, just prior to his arrest. The words, also, remind us of Mary's prayer, "Let it be done to me as You have said," when speaking to the angel regarding his announcement of her giving birth to Jesus.
The medieval Jesuit monk, from France, Jean-Pierre De Caussade, popularized the terminology abandonment to divine providence, especially through his book by that name. De Caussade reminds us, "The state of self-abandonment is a blending of faith, hope and love in one single act which unites us to God and all his activities." Therefore, for De Caussade this abandonment and self-abnegation is not a grimace-and-bear-it sacrifice. Rather, it is a means to be united with God and involved in what God is doing in the arena of Creation. Likewise, we are united through surrender to “all his activities.” This means that when we are involved in the Provident Grace of God, working in and through our lives, it is one work with everything else Spirit has done, is doing, and will do in the Cosmos.
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What more exciting thing would there be than to feel and know one is aligned with God in bringing faith, hope, and love more into this world? With such a vocational intent, our so-called ordinary tasks and so-called secular occupations are consecrated and put at the service of the Creating One.
This re-sacralization of work and everyday activity is a necessary ingredient in showing the applicability of the Christian faith in our postmodern world. It is one thing to sing, teach, and preach pious platitudes on Sunday in churches, but persons need to know how practical the Christian faith is in their everyday lives.
However, no one person can define for another all the ways God will fit God's will for his or her life. De Caussade gives us some insight, in a general way, on this matter of God leading us in a unique way to each person: "God unites his will to ours in a thousand different ways, and the one he employs in our case is always the best for us. We should honor and love them all, for they are all arranged by God to suit each individual soul to bring about this union."
Reflect prayerfully on your recent living. Presently, what signs do you see of God working in your life for your good and the good of others? How might you become more alert to this Subtle Causation of Spirit in your everyday life?
OneLife Ministries is a pastoral outreach and nurture ministry of the First United Methodist Church, Fort Meade, FL. For Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Counseling, spiritual formation workshops, Christian meditation retreats, or more information about OneLife, write Rev. Dr. Brian K. Wilcox at briankwilcox@comcast.net.
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