A WORD for Wednesday-Capitulate

Romans 8:37- 39    

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

capitulate \kuh-PICH-uh-layt\, intransitive verb:

To surrender under agreed conditions.

      

“I give up.  I quit.  Forget it.  Stick a fork in me, I’m done.”  Those words ever passed through your brain cells?   Me!  (raised hand here) usually in regards to one of the following:

•  A rocky friendship
• Work
• volunteering at church (esp. if it involves anything with "Lock-in" in the description; pre-adolescents; or diaper changes for the kid who's mom forgot to tell us about the "laxative" situation.)
• Raising children (just pack them up and ship them to military school now) 
• Holiday family gatherings (And if you think yours is dysfunctional, please read  The Thanksgiving Letter  - you will laugh your face off if you've never read it.

photocred: barbedwire.com

The key is remembering who the Enemy actually is and who it is not.  Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that " For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."   Our struggle is not with a boss, friend, or 6th grader! It's not EVEN your mother-in-law! 

 There are actually two ways to look at this.  Satan delights in these words when he is his waging war in our minds.  If the prince of darkness can get us to fight this spiritual battle in our own strength on his terms, he has us cornered. 

 But when we fall flat on our faces, cry out these same words to the Father of Light, He too is delighted with our response.  We capitulate to the One who makes us “more than conquerors” allowing Him to fight this battle.   Anything He has called us to do can only be successful if we approach the task with complete capitulation.   
Oh, and about the “agreed conditions.”  They’re quite simple, we do it His way.