Your decisions and actions affect what happens in your life. More often than not, good choices lead to positive results, and bad choices lead to problems.
But many other factors also influence those outcomes, and a lot of those things are beyond our ability to control. So, what are we to do? Worry endlessly over things we can’t change? Continue to maniacally try to control everything anyway?
There is another choice, and that’s where faith comes in.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Faith is made possible when we accept we are not totally in control.
Faith in action is called “surrender.”
Surrender is Not Giving Up
Surrender does not mean giving up. It means giving in, to God’s control, even as we continue to do what we can to make good choices and influence the outcome.
For years, I thought courage and strength were defined by being in control. Sometimes, though, the bravest things we can do are to step out in faith, change what we can, and give the outcome to God. (from “It Takes Courage to Surrender”)
Surrender means trusting God for the outcome without knowing if his answer will be the one we want, or when an answer may come, or even if we will receive an answer or not. That takes courage. (from “Trust Takes Training”)
Surrender is a Choice
It is a conscious decision to turn situations and outcomes over to God. Surrender is a choice we make, not a feeling we wait for. It is an act of our will to embrace God’s will.
“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” (Martin Luther King Jr. as quoted in “Surrender”)
Surrendering our will to God can ease our level of concern. By our act of trust, we hand our burdens over to God, and we no longer have to carry them alone.
Imagine the release of worry as we let go of the suffocating control we are normally fighting so hard to maintain. As our worry dissipates, God’s comfort and strength flood in.
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
Letting go allows us to hang on. We don’t lose when we surrender–we win.
Question: Do you see how surrender is a choice rather than a feeling or an emotion?
Action: Pick one situation you will work to surrender to God, trusting him with the outcome.
