Working in Surrender

In this episode of the Rule of Life series, I share my heart on working in surrender to Jesus.

Sometimes we’re restless and burdened because we haven’t surrendered our work to the Lord. At least not completely. We’re working from a place of striving, people-pleasing and cultural conformity, instead of letting God lead us. Instead of working in surrender to His Kingdom.

Jesus’ yoke is easy, and His burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). In taking it upon ourselves, we will learn to rest in His sovereignty, take stewardship of the loads He intends us to carry, and release the loads that are not ours to bear.

Let’s look at some key ways we can practise work in surrender to God. Listen to the podcast below or scroll down to read the notes.

1. Examine our commitments

Sometimes we go through life on auto-pilot and we have difficulty in saying no to other people and things. Our lives become snow rolls, gathering more and more stuff along the way. We feel as if we’re constantly spinning plates, fearing the moment we might let one fall. Fatigue, low-grade anxiety, and restlessness will be ours as the days turn into months. 

So what can we do?

Prayerfully examine our commitments. And then ask God to help us know what is His will to keep doing as a commitment, what to do just until the end of a specific season, and what to stop doing pronto.

2. Embracing small faithful work

Looking at the biblical account, it’s clear that God created us for faithful work and stewardship. God designed us to live with work rhythms and to steward His gifts with excellence: our work, our homes, our children. (Genesis 2:15, 18) 

It’s interesting to note that the Biblical account gives us very little information about what Jesus did before He went into ministry. However, there is an indication that Jesus followed in the footsteps of Joseph and worked as a carpenter (Mark 6:3). The fact that there is little mention of His work shows that Jesus did not push His work into the limelight. Rather, Jesus carried out His work faithfully and with excellence in full obedience to God’s will. (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:23) 

Unfortunately, in Western culture, ordinary faithful work is not only downplayed, but also looked down upon. The world tells us that our work must be visible for the world to see and acknowledge. 

3. Single Tasking

Science proves that multi-tasking is not possible for humans. No matter how much we like to think it is. Our brains are simply not capable of doing simultaneous cognitive tasks. Yet, nowadays we often work in snippets, constantly getting distracted with messages, emails, trips to the coffee machine. Our ability for deep work has decreased as our attention spans have reduced. 

We need to practise getting back to deep work. Concentrating on the work that God has put before us. Not allowing ourselves to sabotage it by getting distracted with other (sometimes necessary) tasks that stop us from engaging fully on the one at hand.

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