05/25/2026
Yesterday, I had an opportunity to preach at Willis Chapel Church in Lebanon, Va. The people there, including Pastor Eric Hobson, have been so gracious to me, they have allowed me to be there 3 times now, and they always make you feel a part of their family.
I wanted to share a synopsis of my message.
Over the last few months, God has given me many opportunities to surrender.
Not the kind of surrender that sounds good in worship songs, but the kind that costs something. The kind that still says “Your will be done” when life feels uncertain, prayers seem unanswered, and all I have heard from God is “wait.”
I don’t like waiting. I like direction. I like clarity. I like knowing what comes next. But lately, I’ve found myself in a season where God hasn’t revealed the next step the way that I have wanted Him to.
A few months ago, I was asked to lead worship for a youth leadership gathering at church. Truthfully, I didn’t want to do it. My heart was frustrated. I wanted to throw what I call a “spiritual temper tantrum” and tell God, “If You’re not going to answer my prayers the way I want, then I don’t want to do this.”
But I’ve learned something over the years: when obedience feels difficult, there is usually a reason the enemy doesn’t want you there.
As I prayed about the worship set, the song “Nothing Else” by Cody Carnes immediately came to mind. I texted the leader over the event and asked if there was anything specific he wanted me to lead. His response was:
“This night is all about desperation for Jesus… the only specific song I had in mind was ‘Nothing Else.’”
So, I started studying the lyrics more deeply:
“I’m not here for blessings. Jesus, You don’t owe me anything. More than anything that You can do, I just want You.”
And I had to ask myself a hard question:
Can I honestly sing those words and mean them?
Can I still worship when God doesn’t immediately change my circumstances?
Around the same time, I was teaching through 1 Peter 4, where Peter tells believers not to be surprised by fiery trials, but to rejoice in sharing in Christ’s sufferings. That word suffering stayed with me.
I cannot become who God has called me to be without surrender… and sometimes surrender leads through suffering.
Many attribute Christ suffering only to the Crucifixion, but I believe we often miss the significance of the Garden of Gethsemane.
The place where Jesus, knowing what was coming, fell on His face before the Father and prayed, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”
The word Gethsemane means “olive press.”
Before olive oil could flow, the olives had to be crushed and pressed under extreme weight.
When Jesus entered that garden, He Himself was being pressed beneath the weight of betrayal, suffering, rejection, and the upcoming trip to the cross. And yet He still surrendered.
As I studied the process of making olive oil, I couldn’t help but see the parallel in our own lives.
The olive still has value before the pressing. It’s useful. It’s good. But the oil hidden inside can only be released through pressure.
I think many of us are in seasons where we feel pressed.
Pressed by uncertainty.
Pressed by disappointment.
Pressed by grief.
Pressed by waiting.
Sometimes we assume the pressure means God has abandoned us or forgotten us.
I think Mathew 26:40 tells us that Jesus also felt this way and The scripture that hit me really hard
[40] And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?
I think we have all been in this place,
Sometimes we say, I need to be alone, just like Jesus did
In reality, we want to be away from the things and people that do not bring life.
Although we need our personal time, we still need the people around the garden praying life over us.
So today, you may be feeling pressed
But the pressing is not punishment. Even if the enemy is the cause of the pressing,
God is still producing oil.
Oil that brings healing.
Oil that produces light.
Oil that helps other people encounter Jesus through our lives.
One of the most beautiful pictures of this surrendered worship is found in Luke 7. A sinful woman entered the house of a Pharisee carrying an alabaster jar of costly ointment. She walked into a room where she knew she would be judged, looked down on, and rejected but she still came because she knew Jesus was there.
While others saw her failures, Jesus saw her heart.
The Pharisee could not even offer Jesus routine hospitality, but the woman offered something costly. She wept at His feet, wiped them with her hair, and poured out expensive oil in worship. That oil represented value, sacrifice, and surrender.
But the greatest sacrifice, was her life
Her lively hood was dependent upon a life of sin, she was a pr******te. She poured out the her means of survival because she believed Jesus offered something greater.
It’s easy to sing songs about complete surrender. It's easy to proclaim it when life feels comfortable. It’s much harder to worship while being pressed.
But often the deepest worship comes from people who know what it means to be broken before God.
Jesus Himself experienced deep sorrow in that garden. Scripture says His anguish was so intense that an angel came to strengthen Him. Even the Son of God experienced emotional agony.
But even there, Jesus continued surrendering Himself to the Father.
As I reflect on all of this, I realize worship is more than singing songs. Worship is communication with God. It’s laying down our expectations, our timelines, our plans, and saying:
“Even here… I still want You more than anything else.”
I don’t know what season you’re walking through right now. Maybe you feel crushed by waiting or exhausted by circumstances you cannot control, I know I do.
but remember, God does some of His deepest work in the pressing.
