How Do We Surrender?

I have recently been reading Priscilla Shirer’s book “I Surrender All” along with my Inspire Women’s Ministry Team and I have gleaned so much already.

When I sing the song, “I Surrender All” at church when they give an invitation at the end of the sermon, I usually just sing it without any thought as to what it truly means.

I looked up the origin of the song and it was written by Judson W. Van DeVenter after he dedicated his life to Jesus. He struggled with whether to pursue his talents as an artist or become an evangelist. He eventually surrendered to his desire to serve the Lord full-time.

When we “surrender” to the Lord, it doesn’t mean we just believe in Him. We can be believers and go on with our lives. But, if we want to be true disciples of Jesus, we have to surrender everything to Him. Our wants, our desires, our hopes, our fears, our worries, etc. It all has to be surrendered.

Surrender is hard. Why? Because we’re human and flawed. We sometimes think our past prevents us from truly being in right relationship with Him. That was a problem I struggled with for years. I couldn’t imagine Him wanting ME to represent Him and His goodness. I thought other people would see me as unworthy and, honestly, some still do because they can’t forgive my past. It used to hurt me and bother me. It still hurst a little, but I now know I am worthy because Christ has forgiven me and He wants me to use my past struggles to tell of his forgiveness and grace. That’s just what I will do until my dying breath.

“Surrender” is a word we don’t always use in our everyday vocabulary. If we do hear it, we think of wars. But, surrender for a Christian is to mean that you give it all over to Jesus with faith He will care for your every need. I know it’s hard, but it’s so worth it.

I hope, one day, that people will say, “She had complete faith in the Lord and she gave it all to Him”. I’m not there yet, but I’m striving every day to get closer to that than ever before.