Surrendering to God's Present Kingdom
/Welcome to the Wednesday Recap!
What is the Wednesday Recap, you ask? Each Wednesday, I recap the discussion from the previous week’s Local table gathering. Each week, The Local meets in various homes around a table to eat, worship, read and discuss the Bible, and pray for each other and our community. Living on mission is our response to the grace and love Jesus has shown us. We share the Gospel and show love to those we encounter where we live, learn, work, and play. While this recap gives people a chance to review, it also gives folks who were unable to gather with us a chance to catch up on what we are learning and working on together. I hope you find it a blessing. Be well, and I will see at our Local table!
Nobody likes being told what to do. I don’t think it matters how old you are. It is just no fun. I think Americans have it worst than most. The whole idea of bucking authority is hard-wired into our systems. Our nation was born by throwing off the yolk of a tyrannical monarchy. Even after 250 years, we are still easily convinced someone is trying to become a king over us again.
I think it goes even deeper than this though. It is part of being human. Ever since Adam and Eve decided they should be able to decide for themselves what was best for themselves, humans have been trying new ways to figure out how best to run their own lives (and sometimes other people’s lives too!). This is why self-help books and autobiographies of “self-made” people are so popular. “Hmmmm…I can’t seem to figure things out for myself. Maybe if I do what THAT guy did, my life will be that much better.” As long as THAT guy doesn’t tell me I have to do things his way that is. Harrumph!
Now if we take another brand of human called “Christian,” we still don’t find people who like being told what to do…as much. Sure, we’ll sit in a pew or a comfy, padded chair and listen to some person yap at us for 45 minutes and consider what they’re telling us we should do. We might even write one or two points down, saying, “mmmmm…so good!” But when it actually comes down to applying it to our lives, it can be a real struggle for us.
“Am I allowing His will to shape my mind, emotions, reactions, relationships, and choices today?”
We love Jesus as Savior. It’s just when the preacher mentions Jesus as Lord, or King, that all of a sudden we feel the pressing need to hit the lobby for another Jehovah Java from the coffee cart. I mean, for Christians, Heaven is for after we die, right? It is our hope of a future with Jesus for eternity—our final destination. But I wonder what would change if we stopped praying “Your kingdom come” as a distant hope—a final destination—and decided to surrender our control to the King right now?
When we look closely at Scripture, we discover that "Your kingdom come" is actually a present-tense prayer.
We are asking God to have His way in us right here and right now and for Him to work His kingdom in and through us wherever we go.
When Jesus teaches us to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10), He is teaching us to desire God’s way everywhere. But that prayer also confronts us personally. We cannot honestly ask for God’s will to be done around us while actively resisting His way within us. It forces us to ask: Am I allowing His will to shape my mind, emotions, reactions, relationships, and choices today?
What Pressure Reveals
Think about a cell phone that looks perfectly fine on the outside. It powers on, makes calls, and opens apps, but the moment you put it under pressure—running heavy updates or multitasking—the apps freeze, the screen spins, and the phone crashes.
Sometimes our spiritual lives look just like that phone. On the outside, we are functioning. We serve, attend church, and say all the right things. But when pressure hits, whatever is truly ruling underneath gets exposed—sometimes explosively. Things like:
Control and defensiveness
Resentment and fear
Self-reliance or false comfort
"Your kingdom come" is not a polite request for God to help our old, flawed operating system run a little smoother. It is a much deeper prayer: "Lord, let Your way replace what has been running me." The kingdom of Heaven would have us choose:
Surrender and openness
Forgiveness and trust
Faith
Discerning Between Two Wisdoms
How do we know which kingdom is currently shaping our lives? James 3:13–18 gives us a clear diagnostic tool by contrasting two types of wisdom:
Earthly Wisdom: Produces disorder, selfish ambition, proving, grasping, and self-protection.
Wisdom From Above: Is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, rich in good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
When we feel like this standard is completely out of reach, that is exactly where the prayer belongs. We do not pray for the kingdom because we have already mastered it; we pray because we need the King to meet us in the exact places where we feel reactive, afraid, ashamed, or overwhelmed.
Living It Out in Ordinary Spaces
If the kingdom of heaven is going to be visible on earth, it has to become visible in the ordinary, everyday spaces of the people who carry it. Here is what present surrender looks like in real-time situations:
1. In the Middle of Conflict
You do not have to win, control, avoid, or overpower. Under Christ, you can slow down, stay relational, speak truth with love, and actively seek repair (Ephesians 4:15; Colossians 3:12–15).
2. When Facing Criticism
Your identity is securely anchored in God, not in defensiveness, shame, or human approval. You can listen with genuine humility without either collapsing inward or attacking outward (Romans 12:1–2; Philippians 2:3–8).
3. In Moments of Disappointment
You can name what is broken without reducing a person to their failures. Kingdom living allows you to hold space for honesty and boundaries, while still pursuing forgiveness and peace (Colossians 3:12–15; Galatians 5:22–25).
4. When Feeling Overwhelmed
God’s way reaches all the way down into your stress, your body, and your fear. Instead of isolating, numbing, or reacting, you can actively reach out to God and trusted people (Galatians 5:22–25; Romans 12:1–2).
Reflection for the Week
As you move through your week, take this question with you into your quiet moments, your workplace, and your home:
When pressure comes this week, what old pattern do I want God’s kingdom to displace in me, and what kingdom response do I want to practice instead?
Are you ready to let King Jesus steer for you? Are you ready to surrender to His plans for you and for His way to trump your own? Give it a try. What have you got to lose?
Thank you for reading! If you are new to The Local, welcome! I hope you decide to stay. If you have stumbled onto this blog somehow, and you have gotten something out of these words, please share it with me. You are welcome at our table.