Last year I went to Yankari Game reserve in Bauchi State with a group of friends and it was an exciting experience. I remember seeing the ‘wild’ animals, now uncaged and allowed to move about freely in their reserve .
It was a large expanse of land, so large it took us about 40 minutes to drive from the gate to the residential areas and another long drive on the safari that lasted more than an hour. The place was very large but guess what? The animals were not allowed to move out of the gate.
They could go to anywhere as long as it was within the game reserve- it was large enough to accommodate all their many wanderings!
Our tour guide said they could even come into our rooms because they were hosting us and we were their guest, that way, we had more restrictions than they because we were in their domain.
Imagine having monkeys, antelopes and baboons at your door post unannounced, that thought alone scared me and you know what? They did come… A baboon came to my room! Lol
In the midst of all these I learnt that though the land was very large, and they could move about freely yet their freedom was limited. And it occurred to me that I had God’s game reserve in my life.
I have given my life to God over and over again, I have sang all the songs of surrender. The likes of “I surrender all” and “I give myself away”, and I meant it but acted so only when it was comfortable. When it didn’t suit me, I restricted God to his game reserve and locked him in:
“Move as freely as you want Lord, but don’t come near so and so place. I want to have my way here. ”
In other words “Lord, so far and no further… ”
Many times, fears come knocking at my door and I fear that if I give all, God is gonna wreck my life and leave me with a pitiable, sorry life. But this has never happened and never will. Instead, He has made my life more beautiful and truly there is nothing I have desired for myself that has surpassed what God has blessed me with; He always exceeds my imagination. So all my fears are continually drowned in His perfect love.
Surrendering to God’s plan is something we can never do too much of. No matter how much you have yielded, until it is your ALL, it’s never enough. God desires unrestrained access!
God doesn’t want a large PERcentage, he wants ‘ALLcentage’.
In Selwyn Hughes words: “God doesn’t want to be kept at a safe distance from us and allowed to quietly graze in His game reserve without disturbance, dutifully acknowledged and prayed to; hence a side show. He doesn’t want to be a comforting backdrop to life or the background music while business goes on as usual. No! The God of the Bible desires nearness to his people. He loves our trust and intimacy.”
xoxo
Have a splendid week ahead!
Awesome piece. Thought provoking too.