The sacred writings . . . are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 NRSV.

Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha . . . saw him no more. 2 Kings 2:11-12.

They offer superficial treatments for My people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. Jeremiah 6:14.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 109: Confronted by adversaries in the Garden. Psalm 40:14: Let those be ashamed and humiliated together who seek my life to destroy it; let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt. And, John 18:4-6: So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Last night we watched The Chosen In the Wild With Bear Grylls and Dallas Jenkins, the creator of The Chosen, was with Bear. When asked about his greatest lesson Dallas said it was surrender. Looking up surrender in the Biblical sense, it said, “In the Bible, surrender is the voluntary act of yielding one’s own will, desires, and control to God. Rather than a sign of defeat, it is an act of profound trust in God’s goodness and sovereignty, forming the core of a faithful spiritual life. – Yielding Control: Letting go of personal plans, fears, and outcomes to trust God’s wisdom instead. – Dying to Self: Putting aside selfish or sinful human nature to let Christ guide your life. – Active Obedience: Choosing to align your actions and thoughts with God’s commands daily.”

In many ways watching that show reminds me of the trust we need in Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. Bear Grylls knows what he is doing in any wilderness setting and yet as he said one never conquers Everest, one survives. But the delight in overcoming fear and taking that next step with a trusted guide expands something vital within us. That’s what Chambers talked about in his devotional today about Elijah and Elisha with the second Scripture verse cited above. Elijah was the mentor for Elisha until that day he was taken away from him. He saw him no more and then Elisha needed to go forth no longer following in another’s footsteps but taking his own steps in faith and obedience. Bear Grylls helps keep those he is leading in the wilderness calm. And that calm comes from trust in one who is experienced and will not let you fail. He demonstrated to Jenkins how to recover if he slipped from a stable position on a single rope crossing a raging river far below. He demonstrated that on a practice rope between two trees that Jenkins then practiced, and then again on his own crossing of that river before Jenkins followed.

Can we begin to see that Jesus, the Son, Creator God, did that for us? He came to demonstrate how to live life trusting our Father, surrendered to His sovereign wisdom and will. He was the calm for the disciples amidst all the turbulence they would experience traversing new terrain of understanding so different from all they had been living because He is that understanding and knowing of all that is good and needed for all of us that we fight so hard against trusting. And as this world we think we understand collapses into the weight of its own pride and ignorance, (They offer superficial treatments for My people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace), we have One who knows how to recover and keep going with Him guiding us safely even through the ultimate fear – death – because even there, Jesus went before us. But the delight we experience with God now in overcoming fear and taking that next step of surrender to Him expands something vital within us. And then we find we want to surrender because our trust in Him is so great and so lived daily as we companion with Him. The fallen world thinks surrender is giving up and losing. It is giving up. It’s giving up trusting in a fallen world mortally wounding us. But it is gaining life abundant with God and He opens up our hearts and minds to so much more than this world will ever provide. Calm. Trust. Love. Hope. Assurance. Peace.

***GUIDING STAR – Be, LORD Jesus, a bright flame before me, a guiding star above me, a smooth path below me, a kindly shepherd behind me – today, tonight, and forever. Columba of Ireland (AD 521-597).***