I Want To Give It All

I want to give it all,

I want to give it all to you.

Surrender all:

Lord I depend on you;

To lay my burdens at your feet,

Place my life in your hands;

To trust in you completely

As the Law of Faith demands.

You are the Potter, I am the clay;

Fulfill all your will in me.

Open my heart and pour in your light;

Open my eyes to see

That I can trust in the God of my salvation,

Bare all my heart in deep relation;

Jesus you're my sure foundation:

I surrender all to you,

I surrender all to you.

I want to give it all,

I want to give it all to you.

Surrender all:

Lord I depend on you;

To lay my burdens at your feet,

Place my life in your hands;

To trust in you completely

As the Law of Faith demands.

Why do we carry all in our own strength

A cross that we cannot bear?

Why do we stumble and keep holding on,

When Jesus is waiting there?

Let me trust in the God of my salvation,

Bare all my heart in deep relation;

Jesus you're my sure foundation:

I surrender all to you,

I surrender all to you.

I want to give it all.

c.2003 M.Scott-Branagan

*     *     *     *     *

This was written at a time when my life completely fell apart.  My marriage of nearly twenty years had broken up; I was looking after my five beautiful daughters, totally unequipped for the task (though I loved them dearly); and I was struggling to remain standing as a pastor with accusations and condemnation assailing me.  My emotions were all over the place - worse than the proverbial "dog's breakfast". 

The songs that came out of that period of my life reflect the utter helplessness I felt, and my desperate dependence on God.  God calls us to lay it all before him.  Often he is waiting for us to let go, waiting to step in and bring his miraculous answers.  Holding on to anger and resentment, allowing a root of bitterness to grow inside, I was blocking his blessing.  I had to learn to let it go.  I cannot change the past, undo my wrong decisions, unwind bad situations.  All I can do, all I SHOULD do, is to leave the past in the past, refuse to allow even the tiniest morsel of judgment or bitterness to remain, and actively choose to step forward. 

I cannot change my past, but with God I can change my future!  He IS the potter, and I AM the clay.  He can do with me as he chooses, for his own glory.  It is my job to surrender.  Then He has room to make the changes that he wants.  I need him to be my foundation, my Rock, my Saviour.