Surrender

We hear it time and time again.We say the words whenever someone around us encounters hardship or in some churchy setting. And when we say it, for most of us, it is genuine:

“God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.”

We quote scripture and buy coffee mugs and wear t-shirts:

“I know the plans I have for you…”

It’s all very easy to wear the t-shirts and drink from the inspiring mugs—to remember, quote, and believe those scriptures when we are on the other side of our victory. Once we have even the tiniest bit of hindsight and breathing space on our side.

But when we’re in the midst of the turmoil…

Sometimes our deflated hopes and seemingly broken dreams stare glaringly back at us. And I will speak for myself here—it is just plain and simply hard. It’s uncomfortable, unpracticed.

Everything in our natural body and mind is telling us that there is a problem, that nobody else is going to fix it, and so WE (I) figure it out.

Now don’t get me wrong—there is always a part to play. God is not a genie in a bottle just waiting to solve our every dilemma. And the Bible is filled with scripture telling us over and over again that God cares for us!

But I digress.

We’ve muddled the waters so much with our “should dos” and “could dos” that we often miss the simple step—the firststep—the Bible gave us.

We look at it as a dirty word and shy away from its power.

You see, the enemy is not creative. He does not create—he only manipulates. He has taken this powerful step and twisted our perception of it into something less than. Something to be avoided at all costs. Something that has been branded with a target label as weak.

Surrender.

Surrender is something so completely simple, and yet seemingly impossible for so many. The steps are not complicated. However, most of us do not find the concept particularly easy. There are areas in our lives, sure, where surrender is much easier than others. But overall, it is a practiced stance.

From the very beginning of our walk with Christ, we have had to begin practicing this act of surrender.

We realize that we, on our own, fall short—and there is nothing we can do to be good enough, try as we might. BUT GOD.

God loved us so much that He made a way. He traded all that we have and stuck a neon sign over it that has lasted 2,000 years!

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) And in John 3:16: “…whoever believes in Him (Jesus) shall not perish but have eternal life…”

Jesus removed any and all confusion by saying:Accept Me. I am the way—the only way. Lay your own plans down and follow Me, and you will be saved. You will be loved. You will be taken care of.

He told us to surrender.

When we begin to better realize the perfect way that God loves us (and we will never be able to fully comprehend it), it becomes easier to remember—and to resurrect hope in our own lives and in the lives of those around us—knowing that even when things don’t feel or look alright, God has not forgotten us.

He has not left our side. He is not afraid of our mess. He wants it. He wants us.

If that weren’t true, why would He have paid such a high price? The death and resurrection of His Son?!

Even Jesus begged three times in scripture for there to be another way.And yet, He knew His surrender would bring about God’s glory.

I said earlier that surrender can be hard... I had a difficult time writing those words, to be honest. I don’t believe in “hard” as a general concept.

Hard surface—okay. But not “hard” as an action.

For some, brain surgery is said to be hard. For others, it is a practiced skill that comes almost naturally after years of work, discipline, and effort. For some, they would say cooking is hard and not a skill yet mastered. (It’s me. I’m the someone here.) However, the more it’s done on the regular, the more familiar and easy it becomes.

I believe that “hard” is a state of mind that can be overcome with practice and patience.

I hear Momma Gay in my head right now saying, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. It makes permanent.”

So what am I practicing? What are you practicing?

Not my will, but Yours.

I want to practice surrender so much that it becomes easier every day—in the small and the big. That’s a bold statement that makes me shudder a little while writing it, if I’m honest.

And still, it is my heart.

Jesus, let us be a better reflection of who You are with every passing day.

Love,