Let it go; Surrender

“The only possible way to move out of our obsessive self-awareness and into the life of Christ” writes Brennan Manning, “is to surrender ourselves and let God be God.”

Surrender is a foreign concept in this day and age. Surrendering is for losers. And losers are those individuals who are destined to become obscure answers to trivial pursuit questions. Surrendering is counter intuitive. It is humiliating. It is simply not the “American way.” And for most of us, it is not even an option.

From cradle to college, we are taught by our teachers, coaches, society, and even shoe advertisements that if we only try hard enough, studying more, practice longer, and look out for number one then we will capture our dreams. We contend for popularity, power, and prestige. We struggle for greatness in work, play, and relationships, because we think when we capture the proverbial carrot that is dangled in front of us that we will then and only then be satisfied. Our desire is to achieve upward mobility, to rise out of the ashes like the Phoenix, to control our destiny regardless of who we have to step on to get to the top, because we are convinced that social prowess and a fat bank account will fulfill the hole that is at the core of our being.

So I have tasted a few of the worlds so called “pleasures” and I am here to say that they are bitter. They aren’t filling, in fact they only leave me confused, jaded, and curled up in the fetal position asking myself “What have I done? The hole in my heart is still there and now it just plain hurts.” I suppose if I go through this routine long enough that I will develop a tolerance to pain and guilt. Hell, maybe I will even get to the point where I can’t feel anything at all, but at least I will have my penthouse suite, trophy wife, social prowess, and throngs of adoring fans to make it all go away.

Christ tells us that He came that His children would have life and have it abundantly (cf. John 10:10). However, the requirement to gain acceptance into His family contradicts everything I know in this world, yet how could it be any worse that the mess I have made of my life thus far? So what are these requirements you ask, well they are faith, hope, and love. They are humility, obedience, and submission to the will of the Father. But Christ tells us that we won’t go about this alone. We will run this race surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses, who have gone before us and are at the finish line cheering us on (cf. Heb. 12:1-2). Jesus tells us that if we should go to him then He will give us rest (Matt. 11:28).

The Lord’s call for us to surrender to the Father’s Will requires only that we believe in Him and to follow His lead. In doing so, we will truly find ourselves. We will realize who are and what our purpose is. We will be received into the number and have right to all the privileges of the sons and daughters of God. So surrendering is not a call to submit the oppressive regime of a tyrannical megalomaniac, but One who knows us better than we knows ourselves and has laid down His own life to vindicate the righteousness of God and to give us life. Now that doesn’t sound so bad does it.