Over the past couple of weeks, God has been really working on my heart in the area of surrender. Oftentimes, I believe I have surrendered something, only to find my mind recirculate the very thing I had laid down, presenting it to me as a brand new concern. It begs the question, "What am I still holding on to?"
A few days ago, Adam woke up and told me about an interesting dream he had. He said there was a young child, a brunette girl, that appeared to him in a dream and told us, "You both have to baptized at the same time in water that is the same temperature."
I knew this dream contained some sort of spiritual revelation about marriage, and I believe I understand the interpretation. When we marry our spouse, there is not just a commitment, there is a baptism that must take place if we want to experience the fullness of unity. Many of us are asking God for manifold blessings to rise up in our marriage when we have not fully died to our own selfish desires. Perhaps one spouse has surrendered in an area partially, and the other has surrendered fully. This differential in surrender will result in some sort of division or wall in the marriage.
One definition of surrender is "to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another." To surrender by force is slavery; to surrender by free will is freedom. The difference between the two, of course, is slavery exists in the absence of love while freedom exists in the presence of love. When you love deeply, surrender comes naturally. Surrender is a direct response that results from a fusion of love and trust. If trust is not present, a wall of separation will erect.
This week, evaluate which areas in your marrriage that you have been "baptized together" and which areas you still need to surrender. When you wake up in the morning, do you think, "How can I make a difference in my spouse's life?" Or do you think, "How can he/she make a difference in mine?" I confess there have been many times in my marriage that I sought what Adam could give me rather than what I could give him. If one partner is only giving and the other partner is only receiving, there is inevitable lack and frustration that settles in. We have all heard the saying, "It is better to give than to receive." If you look up the word "better" in the dictionary, one meaning reads "greater than half." If you are only receiving, one partner's needs are being met at the expense of the other. However, when both partners freely give their all, there is an overflow and overabundance that gushes forth without measure.
When we concurrently lay down our dreams, our agendas, and our desires in favor of our spouse's, we will experience the blessings of a resurrected union. If you have heavy burdens in your marriage, you have not fully surrendered them to God. Because the areas that you have given Jesus full access to, there is freedom and victory. Matthew 11:30 says, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." If you feel something weighing you down, it is begging to be baptized. And do not worry. It is not lost. What is given to God will surely be resurrected.
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