Surrender All

Take all I am, Lord, and all that I cling to
You are my Savior I owe everything to
Take all the treasures that lie in my storehouse
They cannot follow when I enter Your house

CHORUS
So I surrender all to You
I surrender all

VERSE 2
Take all my cravings for vain recognition
Fleshly indulgence and worldly ambition
I want so much Lord to make You the focus
To serve You in secret and never be noticed

VERSE 3
Take all my hunger for all that’s forbidden
Every desire and sin I keep hidden
Search me and know me I want to bring to You
A life that is holy and sanctified through You

This particular song is a modern hymn written by Rich Dalmas who is part of Sovereign Grace ministries – a wonderful Christian ministry that is producing great modern hymns of faith.   If you have never heard this song before, here’s a youtube link to it:

In my opinion, Mr. Dalmas wonderfully merges the themes of two great hymns of the faith – “I surrender all” and “Take my life and let it be.”  The theme of surrendering all that we are, laying these things at the Lord’s feet, and living a life that is sold out and surrendered to him.  The Lord is looking for that kind of sacrifice from His people.  As He did with Abraham, He is looking for our all – for the most important things in our life to be committed to Him.  He asked Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son.  He is also looking for the type of surrender like Hannah did in I Samuel.  The Lord answered her prayer for a son, and He gave her Samuel.  With a heart of thanksgiving and commitment, she then gave that treasured possession back to the Lord for use in His kingdom.

When I read the words of this song, I think about my giving the Lord “the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:”

The Good – Verse 1 reminds us that we have been blessed in many ways here on this earth.  He has given us a storehouse of blessings.  Sometimes this storehouse contains financial blessings.  Other times it is a blessing of family and church, or health or peace or wisdom.  The prayer in verse 1 is for a willing heart to give the Lord the “good” things in our life.  To bless others because we have been so blessed.  Not to give Him our leftovers, but the firstfruits.  The Good.

The Bad – Verse 2 reminds me of giving of one’s self.  The secret cravings for recognition that no one may ever see.  Outsiders may think our motives are always pure, but the reality is that there are times we do things out of selfish ambition and vain conceit.  This verse is a prayer for the Lord to take those bad thoughts and wrong motives.  A prayer for a heart that is satisfied serving Him and going unnoticed.

The Ugly – Verse 3 is about the sin in our heart.  The sinful desire for things that are forbidden.  The hidden sins that no one sees.  The author is once again praying that the Lord would take these things to exchange the “Ugly” for a life that is holy.  A life that has been surrendered and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

As I have mentioned before, I have always had a far-fetched dream to write a hymn.  How cool it would be to write words that might be sung 50 years or 100 years or 300 years from now.  That would be awesome.

Well, this past Sunday at church, after singing this song “Surrender All,” some words came to my mind.  I am not claiming that they are from the Lord.  I will just share what was going on in my life this past Sunday, and the words that I wrote down quickly before my Pastor started preaching.

My wife has been struggling with some health issues lately.  Not the kind of issues where I am concerned about her living from day to day, but ongoing, lingering, frustrating, irritating health issues.  She is a prayer warrior.  She prays for healing.  She prays for a touch from the Lord.  But there are some days where she just struggles.  The words that I wrote will probably never be published in a hymnal.  And I am okay with that.  But I hope that these words encourage her, and that they would encourage you if you are struggling physically today.

Take all my sickness
And all my diseases
The pain that I suffer,
And all of my weakness.

This body I give you
To serve you in worship.
In health or in sickness,
My reasonable service.

So I surrender all to you.  Yes, I surrender all.

Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.