Daily Affirmations - Day 5 - The Cost of Obedience - Ultimate Surrender

Day 5: Ultimate Surrender

Where He leads me, I will follow

Jesus told Simon Peter: Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18).

O Lord of resurrection power, what a mighty God You are! We bow before Your name, the name that is above every other.

We don't just bow our physical bodies before You, we bow our very souls— all that we are, to You and Your will, for You are God Almighty. You, Lord Jesus showed us humble surrender, for You bowed Your own will to the Father, even as You faced brokenness, torture, and unimaginable suffering (Luke 22:42).

You knew the heart and the hands of the One to whom You entrusted Yourself (1 Peter 2:23). You knew His great love, His great power, and His great justice; and even as You longed for the cup of suffering to be removed, You yet acquiesced to His will. And You embraced His great wisdom and His perfect way (Psalm 18:30), as You prayed, "Yet not My will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).

Lord, we may not fully grasp the astounding import of these words written about You: "Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered..." (Hebrews 5:8), but the Holy Spirit has breathed into Scripture that staggering truth to help us. For by example, You taught Your followers the complete trust, obedience, and surrender You ask of them.

Teach us what this means in practice, as You taught Simon Peter and Your early disciples. As witnesses of the astounding reality of Your resurrection, they were transformed from fearful, tearful, cowering individuals who had denied their leader and retreated into hiding— into bold, fearless ministers of Your gospel of hope and peace.

They too, came to know and to entrust themselves to the heart and the hands of a God who is mighty, loving, just, and true. And for Simon Peter, this meant even embracing being led where [he] did not want to go— into a death that would ultimately glorify God (John 21:18-19).

O Lord, thank You for showing us Your own honest struggle with suffering— the wrestling, the agony, the sorrow, the anguish (Luke 22:41-44). And thank You for showing us ultimate surrender to the mighty God of love and justice.

Transform us, as You transformed Peter and the other disciples, by the unshakeable surety of the resurrected Savior. Teach us obedience, even in the grim reality of the pain, sorrow, and suffering of this life.

Strengthen us in the security of Your great love, Your great power, and Your great justice. Teach us to fully surrender to Your great wisdom, and Your perfect way.

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