A Surrendered Life

Surrender: abandon oneself entirely to (a powerful emotion or influence); give in to.

There's something uniquely beautiful about surrender. Some may see surrender as a sign of weakness, but I believe, in God's eyes, it is the highest form of trust.

In our flesh, we have so many things we want. So many things we want to do. So many dreams, ideas and goals that we want to see come to pass. We make plans according to our own desires. We plan things, hoping that our lives turn out how WE want them to. That's just how we operate as humans.

My question is, what would happen if you COMPLETELY surrendered FULL control of your life to God? I mean completely abandoning all of your own wants and desires for your life, and allowing God to take the reins. Think about that for a minute...

I think surrender is a process of time. It has been for me at least. For so long, in my adult life, I did things MY way. I did things the way I thought was best. I made decisions based on the outcome I wanted. I took action with the expectation that my actions were going to cause the REACTION I was looking for. Before I gave my life to God, this is what I did. It's safer that way. It's easier and more comfortable when we know what the outcome of something is going to be. Especially when we're so used to being able to "take care of ourselves". When we're in situations that WE have some form of "control" over, it gives us that false sense of security we long for.

What happens when the THING that was giving you that security goes away though? Then what? What happens when you lose everything you thought meant something? What happens when all your "plans" don't GO AS PLANNED?

The ultimate truth is that no matter how we try to control our lives, there are no guarantees. The one and ONLY guarantee we have in this life is that JESUS is THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY and FOREVER. He never changes and he is sovereign. When we live a life of complete surrender to him and his PERFECT will is when we can truly be at peace. We can live in his perfect will, with perfect trust in his perfect plan. Not in a state of insecurity, always wondering, "what's next?", but in a settled trust in God's sovereign plan and perfect will. We can KNOW that EVEN IF something doesn't go as WE planned, that we can surely TRUST in Jesus to still work it for our good. Will the process be perfect? No. FAR from it. That is why we have God's grace. It covers our imperfections in the journey.

In my process, there have been times where I wanted to keep my grasp on something or even someone so tight that there was no possible way I could let go and trust. Coming from times in my life that were completely out of my own control, it has been a painful process to GROW through. In that same process though, is where I have come to know my Jesus on a much deeper level. When you come to know the character of the Lord, you realize that there's absolutely nothing he would ever take you to or through to harm you. He's our protector, and when we put our lives in his hands COMPLETELY, we can trust and believe that he has our very best interest at heart. We can fully trust in him.

Living a life of surrender is not always easy but it's ALWAYS for the VERY best, because when we leave ALL things up to God, he has no limits to what he CAN and WILL do for us, in us and through us. Settle your heart today in the fact that God has every single detail of your life ALREADY worked out and he doesn't need our help at all.