Surrender

There is a picture I get in my mind when I think of surrender. It’s like in those old movies where there is a battle going on and then one side raises the white flag to communicate to the other that they are willing to give up. In simple terms to surrender means to give up or to give in.

For some reason to surrender is very difficult for most people. Waving that little white flag does not mean we have really surrendered our will to whatever it is we are surrendering to. Saying the words, “I surrender” is only the beginning. This is the point where we take that first step outside of what we think we need and give someone else permission to have control. To actually walk out our lives in a spirit of surrender is a whole different story.

Surrender is usually a last resort and it is not just a one time thing. Surrender is a process and its dimensions are far reaching into the thoughts and emotions of the human soul. I am pondering why it is so difficult to surrender our lives totally to the will of God. We say we want to and at times we even say we do, but we really don’t. It seems to me, once we find ourselves in a place where the only thing left to do is surrender that is when we are willing to give in. I believe our Christian walk would go much smoother if we could learn to surrender from the beginning rather than when we come to our wits end.

The act of surrender is usually thought of in connection to a battle of some kind. A battle is exactly what is taking place just before surrender is offered. We struggle to make things work our way for a long, long time before we realize…there’s just no use. Once we have come to a place in the struggle where we are beaten, bruised, and exhausted, that is when we see the need to surrender. The irony of it is that we are not even aware that we are in the middle of the battle between our own will and that of the Father.

It is when we begin to understand that the source of the conflict lies deep within us that we take steps to alleviate the resistance. This is when we come to the point where we humble ourselves enough to say “finally, I surrender”. Finally…now that I’ve tried everything I know how to do and it is still not working; finally... now that I realize my efforts will not stop my heart from hurting; finally, when we feel there is no other alternative; that is when we fall to our knees and cry out… “Finally, I surrender”.