My Way or the Highway?

Who likes to be in control? Who likes things to go their way? Who likes to get what they want?

What I have noticed, is that from birth and as we grow, we are naturally programmed with this inbuilt desire. To at times stop at “absolutely nothing” in order to get our own way, and to get what we want!

You would have heard Humanity scream this “DESIRE” over and over in your community, your workplace, and your family life. You would have heard it everywhere!

And it may have been announced, as a quote like this:

‘IT’S MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY’

So you see, “Our Way” is reinforced all the time, it's even been made into one of the most famous songs of all time from Frank Sinatra.

So “Our way” is fuelled by “Our Will”, and that can propel us to do whatever it takes to get what we want.

At times we want our “Will” to be enforced at any cost!

We don’t like to lose, just have a look at professional athletes on how they react if they lose.

Some may be able to hold it together on the field, but behind closed doors and within, they are naturally devastated!

And let's take this desire to enforce our will to win, and place it in the highest pressure scenario such as WW2.

Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England in the 1940’s gave his most famous speech when facing overwhelming odds from Germany, where he finished his speech with a defiant, “WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!”

This is one of the greatest speeches of all time, which motivated the English people to with the war and the battle for Britain!

I used this picture of war, in regard to the power of the Will, because the truth is,

“If we haven’t made the choice to “SURRENDER” ourselves completely to God, then we are effectively at war with him, we are battling against him!

I have been a Christian for 29 years, and for the first 18 years of my walk, I was battling against God.

I had received my Salvation, I loved God, my Faith had never faulted, and I could sense his direction, but there was one major fundamental problem.

I hadn’t made Jesus Lord of my life! I hadn’t completely surrendered to him.

I was battling with God and I didn’t even know it at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing until I was brought to a dramatic encounter with GOD!

When I experienced this encounter, everything changed from that moment!

Now when we are talking about an encounter with God, This can look different depending on the personality of the person, For some it is dramatic, for others, it can be a process over time, it can be an “encounter journey”!

I really enjoyed hearing about Dee’s encounter journey from our Seaview campus on Seaview stories, Dee said her encounter was over a long period of time where God has always gently waited for her, loved her, and coaxed her along!

I love what Rick Warren says in the purpose driven life, he says: “The power of the Holy Spirit can work in quite unassuming ways that you can’t even be aware of, or can feel. He nudges us with a gentle whisper.

He said Christlikeness is not produced by imitation, but by inhabitation. We allow Christ to live in us, in other words, we surrender to Christ!

For others it can be dramatic, a great example is the Apostle Paul! He had a dramatic encounter on the way to Damascus.

You may have heard the quote: “It was a road to Damascus moment”, even people in the secular world use this quote!

It's referring to a dramatic conversion”, a transformation of mindset and understanding caused by a revelation of Jesus Christ! For Paul, it needed to be dramatic, Paul was ferocious! He had a zeal to stamp out and persecute followers of Jesus.

His will and tenacity would stop at nothing, to destroy Christianity, because he thought he was doing the right thing before God.

But he was actually at war with God! He was misguided.

He hadn’t experienced the truth, “He needed a major intervention to challenge his will, and to realign his focus.

He needed, an encounter with Jesus!

Acts 9:4-6

“SAUL! SAUL! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you Lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go to the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Everything that he thought was important and true now meant nothing! He was now on a new journey with Jesus, and he explains this in

Philippians 3:6-7

“I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. and as for righteouness, I obeyed the law without fault. I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.”

Point 1. YOUR WAY, NOT MY WAY.

(Encountering God causes Surrender.)

So I mentioned earlier that I had an encounter with God, and for me it was dramatic, and I’ll share some insights.

So as a 4 year old boy my parents divorced partly due to my fathers drinking problem, I have no brothers or sisters.

My mother was there for me, and she did the best she could, so when the troubles of life came along, a jealous unloving step father, I took things into my own hands.

And this way of living, “MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY”, continued right up through my early years of marriage.

At this point, I was so engrained in “my way”, because at that point of time I would defeat the troubles of life! In fact, a crazy part of me would actually welcome troubles, because things would work out my way.

The dangerous part to this, was that it would only reinforce my self sufficiency!

The other crazy thing about this mindset was that I had thought I was doing the right thing before God.

Then 13 years ago, things began to change, the troubles of life became far more difficult. I was noticing that life was not working my way anymore!

This went on for a period of 5 years! We had troubles with so called friends and I couldn’t understand why everything in my life was turning to chaos.

I had become highly strung, stressed, angry and had become deeply tired until I had nothing left in the tank. Then a bit over 10 years ago, I drove down to Westlakes Shore, sat at the waters edge and just contemplated, “what is going on here?”. I looked towards God and I asked him “Is there was something he wanted to say to me?”, because I was just done. My spirit felt stirred and I felt what I heard was this gentle whisper from God that it was not my burden to carry. So right there and then, I made a very clear and conscious decision to give my all to Jesus where, I surrendered completely to him!

Which brings me to my second point:

Point 2. YOUR WAY EVERYDAY

(Surrender requires a response.)

When Paul had his encounter with Jesus, a response was required straight away to continue their journey together! Jesus said, “Now get up and go to the city and I will tell you what you must do!”

So like Paul, I responded! I got in my car and drove straight to Portlife Church, and met with Kev (now the senior pastor at our Seaview campus) where we shared and prayed in an act of faith on the commitment I had made.
I can’t help but think that God was looking down on me, thinking, “thank goodness for that!” because now, now I can work within you! Phillipians: 2:13 says: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

Rick Warren says: “Once we put Christ in the drivers seat of our life and take our hands off the steering wheel, don’t be afraid, “Nothing under his control can ever be out of control. “Mastered by Christ you can handle anything, you will be like Paul”.

Now back to my second point, surrender requires a response!

In Luke 9:23, Jesus speaks: “Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your “own way,” take up your cross “daily” and follow me.”

So for my family and I, God moved very quickly.

We were so grateful for Gods intervention, that our “daily response of surrender” was very easy!

Chantal and I couldn’t help but embrace all the new people who came through the doors at Portlife.

This was an outpouring of worship that came naturally because of Gods love and mercy that was shown to us!

Our wellbeing, thought patterns, and personalities were being transformed without us even knowing it! God was working in us, as we dedicated our time and love to him!

We were not being transformed by the works we did, but by the love and gratefulness that compelled us to give, as we journeyed with him!

We were now outliving his will! Which is not only the best way to live, but the only way to live!

Romans 12:2 says:

“Don’t copy the behaviours and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. then you will know God’s will for you, which is good pleasing and perfect.”

So through that terrible time in our lives, where it seemed that everything was out of control, I received a deep revelation that God has a purpose behind everything, and that nothing is out of his control!

Which brings me to my 3rd and final point

Point 3. YOUR WAY EVERYDAY NO MATTER WHAT

So from when I received this encounter with God and once I understood the revelation that God is in control of all things!

I was now living in what could be described as my “Spiritual Happy Place”

“My Happy place” if that’s what we are going to call it, was a time to be healed, it was a time to be strengthened, it was a time for God to go to work in me, where I developed such a fire, and an incredible yearning to outlive the purposes of God!

So this created a desire within which I couldn’t contain anymore, where I asked Josh if I should head down the road to become a pastor.

Now I am sharing this part of my journey with you, because I am leading to expand my final point!

Rick Warren makes a very accurate statement that I experienced on my journey, where he says: “Let me warn you!” When you decide to live a totally “Surrendered Life”’ that decision “will be tested!” Sometimes it will mean doing inconvenient , unpopular, costly, or seemingly impossible tasks. It will mean doing the opposite of what you ‘feel” like doing!

Now let me broaden this some more, the surrendered life will also challenge your thinking, it will touch on your emotions, it will, test your character!

At some stage we will, be brought to a point of having to make a decision! We will all have to decide on 1 of 2 options

“Do I choose, to look at situations through the eyes of “JESUS” and allow his way to be my way, which can be difficult, and requires Faith and trust!

OR Do I choose what appears to be the easy road, and avoid the “surrendered life”, take life back into my own hands, and I have just given a testimony on how hopeless that option is!

There was a point where I recognised that I had been moved out of my happy place, where I began to be stretched!

God was doing a lot of work within me through this journey,

The most challenging would be where God was developing my Character in ways that I never expected, but he was using that challenge to strengthen my trust in him, and to bring me closer to him!

Like I love living in the presence that an encounter with God provides, I love feeling on fire in my happy place!

But the surrendered life isn’t about how you feel, its not about living in your happy place!

Its about loving and trusting Jesus all the time, especially when times are tough!

It’s about holding onto your encounter and his amazing love for us!

It’s about keeping your eyes firmly fixed on the Father, and keep moving forward his way, everyday, no matter what!

He never asks us to do anything that he hasn’t already done!

He always sets the example first by living out his teachings, and then he encourages us with

“I love you, but I want more of you, c’mon trust me, you can follow my ways because I have paved the way before you!

When Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, when he prayed, he never relied on how he felt, he never relied on being in his happy place!

He relied on one thing and one thing only!

He relied completely on his “Father’s will!”

He relied on “God’s way, everyday, no matter what”

And nothing captures this moment better than Mark 14:32-36:
“They (being Jesus and his disciples) went to the olive grove called Gesthamene, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” he took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, my soul is crushed to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me. He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. please take this cup of suffering away from me. yet i want your will done to be done, not mine.”

He did it, because his father, God, so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life!

So having said all that, the question for all of us to seriously reflect on is this:

Am I living out the surrendered life to the best of my capability?

Am I choosing to make steps in allowing God, to have “his way, everyday, no matter what?”

Paul says from Romans 12:1 TEV: “So then, my friends, because of Gods great mercy to us, offer yourselves as a living sacrific to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true way to worship that you should offer.”