99%
Unless you are living alone in a cave, you know about the rare coast-to-coast total eclipse that happened in America on August 21st. Since my daughter’s family lives smack-dab in the middle of ‘the area of totality,’ we couldn’t miss the chance to see this thing. My son’s family lives in Athens, GA, about 32 miles from where the area of totality began. Athens was predicted to see 99% of the eclipse, so he thought, “that’s close enough” and avoided the 41-minute drive to watch a 2-minute phenomenon.
The eclipse turned out to be a strangely majestic experience. In the run-up to totality, the heat went out of the sun’s rays (because of their diminished density). Then the temperature dropped. It got quiet. Crickets and cicadas began their serenade. Shadows changed . . . what light remained was all direct instead of reflective. And the really weird thing was taking off our eclipse glasses. After all the hype about burning our eyeballs to a crisp, we were able to take off our glasses and look directly at this amazing sight. Unfiltered. Raw. Real. It was beautiful.
But over in Athens, it never got really dark. The crickets never chirped. The glasses stayed on. All the reports of this amazing deal came from people who experienced it, not people who heard about it. The testimonies of what people saw and experienced were so strong, my son plans to go to Texas in 2018 to see the next total eclipse.
There’s a HUGE difference between 99% and 100%.
Think about trust. You either trust or you don’t. If there’s a shred of doubt, trust is nonexistent. When we 99% trust God, it’s like we don’t trust Him at all. There’s an obvious difference between 99% faith and no faith, but in reality, the contrast between 99% and 100% is just as big!
When we, by faith, go all-in . . . when we say, “Ok Lord, I surrender. I’m going to obey your voice and do the next right thing. I’m trusting you with all the outcomes. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” we can take our glasses off and look boldly at the things we thought ‘owned’ us before.
99% faith isn’t close enough. Go all-in. Download the Total Surrender Contract here. Turn each line into a prayer . . . “God, I’m giving you the rights to my possessions, to my reputation, to the acceptance of others . . .” “I give You permission to do anything You wish with me, to me, in me or through me. I claimed the above once as mine. Now I acknowledge that they all belong to You and are under Your control. You can do with them as You please.”
Giving ourselves over 100% to the Lord is the only path to peace in this life . . . and the next.
Scripture: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 – emphasis mine)
Mentor Tip: I now put the Total Surrender Contract in front of every mentee in every mentoring group. I ask them to sign it only when they are truly ready. If you decide to do it with your groups, I encourage you not to make it something where there’s peer pressure. This is a solemn deal between your mentee and his Heavenly Father.
Photo Credit: Todd Fields
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Responses (2)
MAN I love this post, Regi. I was in the 99% area too and the difference between that and 100 was astounding…even sad. Thanks for that illustration and for linking that up with my faith for me.
Glad to be in the same place. All in.