What does this word really mean? Giving in? Giving up? Having your dreams, hopes, desires trampled on or discarded? I don’t think so. But I do believe it is critically important to know what your definition is because how you define it for yourself may not be how it should be defined.
If you use the world’s definition, Webster:
“agree to stop fighting, hiding, resisting, etc., because you know that
you will not win or succeed; to give the control or use of (something)
to someone else; to allow something (such as a habit or desire) to
influence or control you…”
To me, those are all give ups or ins – all beyond your ability to effect so you might as well not continue. This implies that there is nothing positive in how you proceed so take the simplest way out. Loss. Is this the frame of reference you hear in your head when you hear the word, ‘surrender’?
What if there was another definition, a position that wasn’t give ups or ins but of a positive application? There was, is a phrase that Christians like to use – ‘let go and let God’. I believe that this relates to surrender and helps define the word. Circumstances can blind us, they can dictate what it is we see, and from that, can do. When we turn to the Lord and ask Him to be our Lord, to be our Master then this is a totally different perspective of what surrender is and does.
Granted you may feel that you no longer are in control – but, you are. You still have the option, decision and ultimate responsibility to allow the Lord to lead you; to abide by His precept and standards; to become your best you in the day. We are never forced to agree to His Lordship, this is a free choice. And if you think this is a walk in the park, don’t be deceived. Be-ing and Do-ing what surrender defines is a daily moment-by-moment, conscious choice. But the more you act this way, the easier it becomes.
Make a mistake? Slip? Get angry? Of course – we all do. The point is that when we do something we really regret and realize this – run to Him, not from Him. He knows. He forgives. It isn’t grovelling, it’s repenting and then continuing. An entirely different definition and mindset. Surrendering is not defeat when we surrender to the One who cares for us. Remember, you don’t always have to be right when you follow the One who is always right.
