“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
— Matthew 11:28
The other night, my human was watching one of those old John Wayne Westerns.
I like Westerns.
Horses. Cattle. Campfires. Lots of dust and dirt. And sometimes a dog.
Honestly, it looks like a pretty good life for a dog.
Anyway, things weren’t going well for somebody…
Guns were drawn.
Everybody looked serious.
Then one fellow finally realized he was outmatched.
He slowly raised a white flag.
I looked at my human.
He smiled and said, “That means he’s surrendering, buddy.”
Surrendering?
Now, I’m a dog, but that didn’t sound like something you’d brag about.
Humans like winning.
They fight to win at work.
Fight to have their way at home.
Fight to prove a point.
Fight circumstances.
Fight people.
Sometimes they even fight themselves.
My human does it too.
I’ve watched him sit at the kitchen table carrying things he couldn’t fix.
Family stuff.
Work stuff.
Money stuff.
Tomorrow stuff.
Yesterday stuff.
While in his chair with his Bible open nearby, he’ll stare into his coffee like the answer might float to the top.
For the record, I’ve checked his cup…
No answers.
Then sometimes he’ll finally bow his head and say something like…
“Lord, I can’t carry this anymore. It’s Yours.”
That’s when something changes.
Not always the problems.
Him.
His shoulders loosen.
His breathing slows.
And that worried look begins to fade.
That’s when I understood the white flag.
Maybe surrender isn’t losing after all.
Maybe surrender to Jesus is finally admitting we were never supposed to fight every battle alone.
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
He didn’t say, “Try harder.”
He didn’t say, “Figure everything out first.”
He said... Come.
Bring the family you’re worried about.
Bring the job wearing you down.
Bring the future you can’t control.
Bring the hurt you can’t fix.
Bring the battle you’re tired of fighting.
And wave the white flag.
Not because you’ve given up.
Because you’ve given it over.
I think dogs understand this better than humans sometimes.
When my human is driving, I don’t spend the whole trip worrying about where we’re going.
I just ride.
I trust the one behind the wheel.
Maybe that’s what serenity looks like.
Trusting Jesus enough to quit grabbing the steering wheel.
So today, if life feels like an old Western and you’re surrounded, tired, and running low on ammunition…
Raise the white flag.
Surrender it to Christ.
You might discover that surrender isn’t where peace ends…
It’s where serenity begins.
Serenity from Surrender… that’ll preach
Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s another John Wayne movie coming on… and this one is in black and white.
And I think I heard somebody say something about a bad guy named Liberty.
I’m hoping a dog is involved like in the last one.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
