Learning to Let Go

Introduction

Good evening! Find Genesis 22:14

I want to talk to you tonight about “letting go.”

A. What Has God shown us in the life of Abraham?

1. God has shown us that He is Faithful.

2. God has also shown us that He is Provider.

We do ourselves a great disservice by not trusting in the provision of God.

Not just in the big things, but in the small things.

B. We must understand that God desires every part of us, both great and small!

1. As we begin, ask yourself this question tonight:

What is keeping you from giving everything to God?

C. Giving Everything to God is defined as “Surrender.”

When we are fully surrendered to God:

there is nothing that we will not give Him

and there is nothing we will not trust Him with,

and there is nothing that we will not trust Him for.

D. Think Again About Abraham’s Test

God gave Abraham a blessing, and now God is asking Abraham to give it up.

Abraham responded in faith.

1. Through failure and and heartache, Abraham finally learned surrender, because he learned that God is faithful.

2. Now, one more time, ask yourself this question:

What is keeping you from giving everything to God?

E. Why Does God Call us to Give Him Everything?

First, we can know that God will give us anything, because He has already given us everything.

Now, God is calling us to give Him everything, so that we can freely give Him anything.

F. God Desires that we Learn to Let Go so We can Submit to Him.

When we are willing to let go of everything, we can know that we are in full surrender to God.

I. Surrender Costs Us

A. What kind of things do we need to surrender to God?

It can be different things for different people.

Sometimes those things are good, sometimes those things are bad, but there is always a cost.

1. Someone can be holding onto something that is bad for them like bitterness and unforgiveness.

Surrendering that bitterness and that unforgiveness is going to cost their pride.

Even though letting go of that bitterness and unforgiveness will be healthy for them, a person can still have a hard time letting that go.

2. Sometimes God calls us to surrender a good thing

Isaac was a good thing. He was a blessing from God. But Genesis 22 tells us that God asked Abraham to surrender Isaac.

B. What Are We Supposed to Surrender?

1. We are supposed to surrender our entire person.

Luke 9:23 NKJV

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

2. When we think of denying ourselves, we think of denying ourself of things.

God is not talking about denying ourself of something.

He is talking about denying self.

He is talking about letting go of everything we want and surrendering to what He’s asking us to do.

That’s the test He gives Abraham.

He tests Abraham by asking Abraham to surrender to His will, no matter the cost.

C. So, What Does Surrender Cost?

1. Surrender Costs us our Will

A will is an intention, a settled purpose, or thoughtful desire.

If we were to just spend our whole lives denying ourselves of things, we would be treating the symptom and not the cause.

That is, we do certain things and we behave certain ways because that is our will.

a. Surrender costs our will, because it is our will that prevents us from surrendering.

Luke 22:42 NKJV

“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

This is the greatest struggle in all of God’s Word.

The Lord obviously doesn’t want to drink of the cup of sin.

When He does, He knows that He is going to be separated from His Father.

Yet, Jesus says, “I am going to deny myself and surrender to you.”

2. Surrender can Cost us our Blessings

Genesis 22:2 NKJV

Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

God gave Abraham the blessing of a son, and now God is asking for Isaac to be returned to Him.

a. These blessings that surrender will cost us can be actual blessings, or they can be things we just think are blessings.

Think of the lukewarm church of Revelation. What does the Lord say to them?

He says that He will vomit them out of His mouth.

Revelation 3:16 NKJV

So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

Then He tells them why.

Revelation 3:17 NKJV

Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—

They thought they were blessed because of all that they had.

But, wealth, possessions, and experiences do not mean blessing.

Sometimes wealth, possessions, and experience can mean sin if they get in the way of your surrender to God.

b. However, Isaac was an actual blessing, and God still asked for him.

c. As a Christian, we don’t simply choose between good and evil, we choose between self and God.

Christianity would be much easier if we just had to have good behavior and then ask for forgiveness when we messed up.

But Christianity is not about performance, it is about surrender.

Sometimes, surrender means that we lay down and let go of the blessings.

This is because blessings can hinder us and get in our way.

We can start to think life is all about the blessings and forget that life is all about worshipping the One Who blesses us.

3. Surrender Costs us our talents, skills, and resources

Ask God to show you if there is any talent, skill, or resource that you have not surrendered to Him.

Now ask Him to show you what’s keeping you from surrendering it to him.

a. We struggle in our Christian life because we won’t fully give ourselves over to God.

All the way from Genesis 12 to Genesis 21 Abraham had a hard time surrendering.

His like was marked by doubt, failure, and mistakes.

In chapter 22, he finally shows that he’s willing to give God everything, and he’s blessed beyond measure.

Genesis 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

b. It’s impossible to imagine what God would do in your life if you’d fully surrender.

Illustration: The Man Fully Consecrated

The great evangelist D.L. Moody was at a revival meeting.

A man named Henry Varley said to D.L. Moody, “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him.”

D.L. Moody said, “By God’s help, I will be that man.”

D.L. Moody had a fifth grade education.

He was said to be unpolished in his grammar, spelling, and pronunciation.

He wasn’t able to read well.

It is said that when he preached, his sermons were unconnected, as he rambled and repeated the same themes over and over.

Yet, it is estimated that D.L. Moody preached the Gospel to over 100 million people in his lifetime.

c. While we are afraid to give everything over God, He stands ready to use us in ways that we cannot even imagine.

II. Surrender Frees Us

Surrender in war is captivity, but surrender for the Christian is freedom.

Your salvation consists of more than simply getting away from punishment.

Your salvation means that you are free from everything that once held you.

What does surrender to God free us from?

A. Surrender Frees us from Worry

Genesis 22:8 “And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.”

Isaac was concerned, but not Abraham.

Abraham says, “Don’t worry about it son, God is going to provide!”

1. The Lord Himself tells us not to worry.

Matthew 6:31 NKJV

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

That is, stop worrying about what you have and what you don’t have!

a. If there is something you can think of that God hasn’t given you, then you don’t need it.

Surrendering to God means understanding that He will give us what we need, and He will give it to us when we need it.

b. Instead, God says to seek after Him!

Matthew 6:32 NKJV

For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

I am not talking about being unwise.

I am simply talking about being confident that God has given you all that you need, and that there’s no reason to worry.

B. Surrender Frees us From Fear

Hebrews 11:17 NKJV

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

Hebrews 11:19 NKJV

concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

1. Where there was previously fear in the life of Abraham, surrender conquered fear.

Every sin that Abraham committed had to do with fear.

He was afraid that the kings would take his wife, so he lied.

He and Sarah were afraid that God wasn’t going to give them a son, so he committed adultery.

Now that Abraham is completely surrendered to God, he obeyed God with fearlessness.

2. Where there is fear in your life, surrender to God will conquer it.

Just like every person has a different cost to pay for their surrender, every person has a different fear that needs to be surrendered.

3. We need to take the time to examine our surrender to God.

The reason that we are restless and distracted is because we don’t take the time to surrender.

Praying with God, reading His word, offering your life as a sacrifice to Him each and every day is how we surrender.

Saying to God, “I want to surrender to you today God” is a healthy practice.

When we pray like that, here’s what Scripture says happens in our lives.

Philippians 4:7 NKJV

and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

4. When we offer ourselves up daily, we are freed from the burden of fear and we are covered in the peace of God.

C. Surrender Frees us from Made up Expectations

We do ourselves a lot of harm by making our own plans for our life.

We run here and there and we think that we have to be a certain way and do certain things, but we never stop and say, “God, what is on Your agenda today?”

Luke 10:38–40 NKJV

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

Luke 10:41–42 NKJV

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Too many live under an unrealistic burden when Jesus says that He has come to give us rest.

Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Pharisees and satan place burdens on the necks of people, the Lord Jesus frees us to serve Him.

1. When you’re surrendered to God, your ministry and your responsibilities go from an obligation to a privilege.

Where work in the church becomes tiring is when we aren’t submitted to God, but we distracted by much serving.

Or, in some cases, when we are distracted from serving.

2. God has a way for you to serve Him, and He has a way to do it through the local church.

The church is the visible expression of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If someone says that they serve God, but they don’t serve the church, they are mistaken.

However, for someone to try to serve the church without being in submission to God, is a waste of time.

III. Surrender Strengthens Us

2 Corinthians 12:10 NKJV

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

A. When We Surrender to God, We Apply His Grace

Ephesians 2:8–9 NKJV

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

1. The Grace is of God is our strength over trial and suffering

Genesis 22:13 “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.”

2. It is the grace of God that provided that Lamb for Isaac, and it is the grace of God that meets us in our weakest moments.

When we are surrendered, we are under the protection of God Almighty.

Not only are we under His protection, we walk under the banner of His authority.

3. One of the names of God is Jehova Nissi (The Lord is My Banner)

When an ancient army went to war, its banner represented the authority under which those soldiers marched.

A soldier marching beneath that banner was identifying himself with something greater than himself.

In Exodus 17, Moses and the Children of Israel won an impossible victory against the Amalekites.

Then, Moses called God, Jehova Nissi, “The Lord is My Banner.”

4. When we surrender to God, we walk under His banner, by His Grace, and According to His Strength.

Conclusion

A. When it comes to surrender, we must give God everything.

Because, we can know that God will give us anything, because He’s already given everything…

And He wants us to give Him everything, so that we will be willing to freely give Him anything.

B. I want to ask you this questions once more:

What is keeping you from giving everything to God?