“They came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are dying!’ He awoke, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they ceased, and it was calm.” Luke 8:24 HNV

I Am Not My Own

Part Two

Today let us further explore what an owner (or master) does.

An owner takes care of his own. Matthew 6:32a (NIV) tells us, “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.” He has been my Protector, Provider and Peace too many times to count.

My Owner knows everything about me. The psalmist says, “For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16 ESV).

God doesn’t make junk, and when I go down old paths of darkness I need to remember that. I am not a mistake. He knows all the days that have passed, the struggle I am in now, and all the days left for me. He has a perfect plan, and He makes all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

When I give up doing things my way—living by what looks, feels, tastes, seems right to me—then I can be like Simon Peter (in Luke 5:1-11) when Jesus asks him to throw his net out into the deep. “And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets.’” Obedience to the Master, though it may seem absurd at times, yields big rewards: “And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking” (verse 12).

Life is hard sometimes; there will be days like I described yesterday, when our past is thrown up in our face and we feel like the disciples on the lake—“Master, we are dying!” But just as He calmed the literal storm in their lives, He can calm the emotional one in ours. On my own, I can make a royal mess of things, but when I surrender my ownership to the royal Messiah, He can and does take care of me. He makes me new and fills me with His Holy Spirit.

So often I think people feel like they will become slaves or puppets if they give their lives to Christ. It’s actually the exact opposite. When we surrender, we are set free.

 “Father God, thank You for all the things You give us when we surrender our lives to You. Thank you most of all for loving us. Amen.”