Surrender

 Thus says the Lord: He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live.
Jeremiah 38:2 ESV

Imagine a Ukrainian telling the inhabitants of Kyiv to surrender to Putin. Clearly, that wouldn't go down well. Yet that is similar to what Jeremiah told the Jerusalemites.

Jerusalem was patriotically trying to fight the Babylonian superpower. Yet they may as well have been fighting against God, because He raised the Babylonians up to punish His people for ignoring Him. There's no point struggling against God's will.

Just to clarify, I'm not God, so I wouldn't say Ukraine should surrender to Russia. There's other times when evil superpowers can and should be stood up to (although we as ordinary people should be peaceful).  If Putin wasn't opposed he'd be like Hitler taking over more and more territories in his greedy lust for power and empire.

What I am saying is that we need much discernment. We often assume surrender is wrong, yet if it saves our lives, is it really such a bad thing? We need to surrender to God's sovereignty in our lives.

'God Almighty, we surrender to Your sovereignty. We bow the knee to King Jesus willingly now. We ask that many more will join us happily before they are obliged to do so in the end. In Jesus' name, amen'

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