The Choice to Surrender – Living a Life of Freedom
Surrender isn’t a seriously popular word in our culture. Even the main few definitions in the dictionary have some rather negative connotations related to that word.
“To declare to a competitor that he or she has won so that fighting or conflict can cease.”
“To relinquish possession or control of something because of duress or force.”
“To yield to a powerful emotion, influence or temptation.”
“An act of declaring defeat at the hands of the opponent.”
Surrender to God, God asks us to surrender our lives and everything we need to Him but you will not see Him using coercion or force to get us to do so. God asks but our doing is our choice and our choice alone. It does not have anything to do with declaring defeat at the hand of a contestant either because, God is always for us, He isn’t our competitor and surrender to God always leads to victory, not defeat.
Why Surrender?
We were made by a loving God who desires a life-changing connection with us. Relationship is the key here because God asks us to surrender to Him inside the context of a relationship. He is not a God who would like to “lord His power” over us but rather as our all knowing, all loving Creator He alone knows what’s best for us in each area of our lives and His want is to guide us on the right path so we are able to experience a sanctified and abounding life. He has declared that frequently in His Word. He also warns us of the pittfalls that await those who doubt Him and choose to live their life according to their own knowledge and understanding.
Hindrances to Surrender
If each of us has been invited by a loving God to surrender our life to Him, understanding that He alone knows what is the absolute best (not necessarily the simplest) for us, why then, wouldn’t everybody choose to surrender to Him? Pride! Simply, it has always been man’s most serious hurdle to surrender to God! Since the start of time, when God asked Adam and Eve to surrender their will to His in the Garden of Eden and they refused, men (and female) have thought they know better than God does what is the best for them. This would be rather amusing, if it were not so significant. Man, created by God, thinking they know better than the God that created them, what is the very best for them. Yet, it happens “ever day in lots of individuals.
Pride isn’t the sole obstacle to surrender. Fear and doubt has a serious role to play. Fear and doubt, primarily based on false or unfinished understanding of God could cause an individual to question that God actually is all knowing, all loving, all smart and merciful and therefore , He will not actually lead them on a trail that is at last designed to give them an abundant life.
God is who He asserts He is and will do what He asserts He’s going to do. He has proved this regularly in the lives of His children who have selected to surrender their lives to Him. He won’t prove Himself to you, though, unless you choose to surrender and take Him and His Word. It’s your decision!
Burton Rager writer of “Living Life Set Free” and “God’s Answer?” Click to learn how to surrender to God and receive a complimentary copy of “God’s Answer?”
categories: God,Jesus,”Holy Spirit”,how to surrender to God