Surrender

Recently this word "surrender" has been on my mind. It's a word I realized God loves and something that I can always get better at. What comes to your mind when you hear the word "surrender?" Do you think of war? Giving up? Do you think of it as a weak thing to do? A scary thing to do? Before you continue reading, take a minute and define what you think surrender is. When I think of surrender here is what I think of. I think of a war going on and one side is being defeated, losing people, not enough resources to defend themselves, and someone comes out into the middle of everything, and waves their white flag, vulnerable, out in the open, tired of carrying it all, tired of fighting, tired of losing, bruised, and ashamed. Chaos reining, worry creeping in, fear knocking on their door, and finally, surrender. They choose to surrender because they know they cannot win on their own, they know if they keep going they will continue to lose more and more. They surrender and peace comes in, the pain, the burden of carrying it all, it vanishes. The sun shines on their faces, filled with warmth, and comfort. It is done, they don't have to do it any longer. Is it scary to surrender? To just give up everything? To lose? Is it a weak thing to do? Is it scarier to continue on in the war or to surrender? Surrender is something this world is not very good at. Think about arguments we have with people. No one likes to lose or admit they're wrong. I think this world views surrendering as weak, and as a loss, maybe even scary. Sitting there in the open, guards down, trusting, weak, tired, vulnerable, it can be scary. But, when we surrender to Christ, how beautiful that is. Vulnerable, open, all in, it doesn't need to be scary with Him, trust Him, leave it all with Him. Surrender to Him and His plan for you. He's trustworthy, He already knows it all, give it to Him. Surrendering everything to Christ is not a loss, you didn't lose, in fact, it is a gain. You gain peace, you gain all you need when everything is in Christ's hands. To surrender is not weak. It's brave, strong, courageous. To let go, give it all to Him, to give up control, give up self, that's strength.