The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Surrender as “The action of yielding one’s person or giving up the possession of something especially into the power of another.” As Christians, we surrender to God. The Bloomers Community Instagram account put it perfectly: Surrendering to God means letting go of our own will, desires and control and submitting ourselves entirely to His will and plan for our lives.” To me, surrender is simply giving God everything because I really am just a girl. These burdens are not mine to carry.
Why do we hold back from Surrender?
I’m the firstborn in my family and I tend to have a “control” issue. I want to be in control of things because I believe I will handle things best. I’ll give an instruction and still want to be the one to execute it, or closely monitor the one executing it because only I can do it well.
If you’re like me, or you relate to this in any way, there are things that we have experienced in life that made us who we are. It could be being forced to grow up, childhood trauma or even disappointment. The causes are many!
Another thing that has hindered me from surrendering in the past is fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of change! We know that sometimes surrendering to God will come with an instruction for us to let go of things we have held on to even when we had no business holding on to them!
Holding back from surrender is also a trust issue! I like to say, it’s easier to trust a God you know! So trust issues may be arising from not actually knowing God and so failing to surrender to Him because how will you surrender to someone you don’t know?
I’ll share five reasons why you should surrender to God! The reasons are many but these five should inspire you to start your process of surrender.
Why you should Surrender to God
1. You will grow closer to God
Surrendering to God is an act of humility. It is you putting your pride and saying, “I give control back to God.” This in itself will bring you closer to God because, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Surrendering to God will make you a lot more dependent on God because you will need Him to guide your steps as you would have surrendered control over your steps. It creates a desperation to know God because it is easy to trust a God you know. In our attempts to trust Him, we get to know Him more.
David wrote, “But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all your works.” It’s difficult to separate surrender and trust. We surrender because we trust God. And it’s easier to trust a God you know.
2. You will learn His voice
Having surrendered everything to God, you will need to hear what God says to you. To hear where He wants you to go, what He wants you to do. Surrender allows us to hear God more because then we aren’t surrounded by the noise of our anxieties, our plans, our control, etc.
When I finally surrendered my job hunt to God, I heard God so loudly. He led me to the two places I applied to even though I thought I ended up in one of the places by accident. He led me to where I did my internship and to where I’m working now. I heard God clearly for the first time in a long time when He told me not to apply anywhere else after the last company I applied to. And I obeyed because I surrendered that to Him. He definitely knew what He was doing. After months went by (and I started wondering whether I should have maybe just continued applying), I got the job.
John 10:3-4 says “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” The sheep surrender to the guidance of their shepherd. They trust that he will protect them and they know his voice.
3. You will let go of anxiety
When you surrender control, you surrender the outcome of whatever goes on in your life. This gives us a sense of peace as then our minds aren’t full of worry and focused on solving problems that on our own, we were never going to solve.
Everything that causes anxiety, worry, stress, etc. we surrender to God. Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”
Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.”
4. He will heal you
Surrendering to God is quite difficult especially when you carry emotional pain and trauma from people you trusted in the past that may have let you down. The great thing is that God doesn’t want us to surrender once we are healed and “ready to trust again.” It’s in the middle of the pain and hurt that we get down before God and tell Him we are going to give it a try.
“A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Surrender even with your broken heart, surrender your pain to Him and gently, the great physician, will mend your broken heart.
Psalm 147:3: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
5. You will live life with purpose
Surrendering every part of your life means that in every part of your life, you will walk in God’s purpose for you. Surrendering to God allows us to live for His purpose. Yes, even your relationship has purpose! Surrender it!
Ephesians 2:10; “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
There are so many more reasons why you should surrender to God but I hope these shared will prompt you to Surrender to God. The greatest example we have of surrender to God is Jesus Christ. Jesus struggles in His human nature with the death that he knew was coming up. He also struggled with the surrender of his will. So he prayed, ““If you are willing, let this cup pass from me. Yet not my will, but thine be done.” That’s the perfect example of surrender to God’s will. You can do it too.
Please share in the comments what you are surrendering to God! Share your experiences with surrender! What was a benefit of surrender? What do you find challenging about surrendering to God? Leave a comment below! We would love to hear from you!
Enjoy this Surrender playlist that I made just for you!
