Surrender
Last fall, I drove my two teens to a youth conference. My husband and I had been praying the Lord would use the sessions to speak to their hearts. Well, the Lord used that conference to speak to me! The preacher for the afternoon session talked about Moses and then showed us the sign language for surrender. It looked like what someone would do for a policeman.
Hands released and pointing up: “I give up; I surrender!”
This simple gesture leaped out to me. I began to think: When I surrendered my life to God, I thought I was giving my life to Him. I didn’t realize surrender had the idea of hands off and letting go.
The next afternoon I pulled out my Bible, notebook, and laptop. I did a word search on my Bible software program, called “SwordSearcher,” to study the word surrender. Did you know the word surrender is not in the KJV Bible? This makes it tricky to biblically define, for man has given it many definitions and meanings.
Here’s what the dictionary says. Surrender means “to cease resistance from an enemy or opponent, to submit to their authority, to yield to power of another, to resign, to yield to any influence, passion or power; to give up.”
Here’s how Christian lingo defines surrender: It means knowing God has a will for you, and wanting your will to be His will. At the day of salvation you surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ your heart and soul. Now He wants you to surrender to Him your entire life. There’s more to the Christian life than knowing you’re on your way to heaven; it’s desiring to do His will while you live here on earth.
Let’s look at two scriptural passages that deal with surrender.
Surrender begins with a conversation with God.
The night before Jesus died, He headed to the Garden of Gethsemane to have a long talk with the Father. Jesus prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done” (italics mine) (Luke 22:42). Do you see Jesus’ desire for His will to be in line with the Father’s will? The will is a mental faculty, and from it comes your desires and wishes. Jesus desired for His entire inner part—the heart, soul, mind, and will—to be surrendered to the Father.
Have you ever heard a message that stirs your heart at church, a camp setting, or a conference, and you made a decision? Then when you arrived back home and back to reality, you realized your heart was all in, but not your willpower? The heart is a great place to start, but the will needs to be surrendered as well.
Do you want the Father’s will in your life? Surrender starts from a conversation with God. You don’t have to book a retreat center or plan a getaway. Any kind of a quiet place and time with God will do. This can be challenging, I know; I had four kids in five years. The bathroom was my quiet, go-to place for many years! So you do what you can do. But I encourage you to have that conversation with the Lord.
Surrender happens when we let go.
Complete surrender means all inner parts of you are ALL in. It means you release your hands and lift them up to the sky: “Lord, I surrender. Here’s my entire life. I am releasing my hands. I am letting go.”
Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” What does “be still” have to do with surrender? I’m happy to answer that question for you!
The phrase “be still” comes from the Hebrew word “raphah.” It means “to slacken, to weaken, to let fall, especially the hands.” To “be still” means you are letting go; you are releasing your grip on whatever you are holding onto.
How would you feel if I gave you a gift, but I never let it go?
Me: “Here, I would like you to have this gift.”
You: “Oh, thank you so much! Ummm…thank you…uhhhh…you can let go of the gift now.”
Me: “Well, now this is awkward. I really did want to give you this gift, but…I just can’t let go of it.”
You: “Um, yes…definitely awkward!”
OR, how would you feel if I gave you a gift with strings attached?
Me: “Here, I would like you to have this gift.”
You: “Oh, that is so sweet of you. Thank you!”
Me: “Before I give you this gift, you’ve got to promise me you will never ever get rid of it. And definitely no re-gifting! By the way, you can’t ever give it away either. You must keep it until the day you die.”
OR, how you would you feel if I gave you a gift and took it back?
Me: “I saw this gift and thought of you. Even the wrapping paper looks made just for you!”
You: “Oh, I love the color purple! So thoughtful, thank you so much!”
Me: “Hmmmm…you know, I like the color purple too. Come to think of it, I really like this gift.”
(Insert awkward pause here.)
You: “Again, thank you so much!”
Me: “You know, I’m sorry, but I changed my mind. I’d rather keep the gift.”
Whoa, wouldn’t you wonder what my issue was with gift giving? And indeed I would have an issue—I wouldn’t know how to give and let go!
To “be still” means to surrender; it means to let go and release your grip on whatever you’re gripping—and give it to God.
To surrender your life is a giving plus a releasing.
Do you remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira? It says they sold a possession and kept back part of the price (Acts 5:1-2). Peter later asked Sapphira how she could agree with her husband to tempt the Spirit of the Lord. For recognition, Ananias and Sapphira had given with one hand stretched out in front and the other behind their backs, holding tightly the kept-back part. They didn’t surrender, for they never truly let go. Instead, they tempted the Lord.
What does it mean to tempt the Lord? When Satan told Jesus, “If you worship me, then I will give you this.” Jesus replied, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matt. 4:7).
We think, “Ooooh, the devil is so bad to tempt….oooh, Ananias and Sapphira are so bad for tempting the Lord.”
But do you know what? Sometimes we say similar things to God. We say: “Lord, if you do this ________ (answer this prayer, heal me, make this happen) then I will give you this __________.”
Do you see how tempting the Lord is the opposite of surrender? Tempting the Lord gives to Him with conditions and on our own terms. Its roots come from a heart of discontentment and dissatisfaction. It’s a spirit of entitlement that expects and demands miraculous things from Him. Simply put, we tempt the Lord when we use Him as a genie. “If you do this God, then I will know that You truly are God and love me.”
Here’s what complete surrender says:
“I give up, Lord.”
“Here Lord, I am giving this to You.”
“Lord, I am releasing and letting go of this.”
“Not my will, but thine Lord.”
What’s in your life you need to surrender to God? What are you holding onto tightly and of what are you not letting go?
It could be:
Your future plans
Your spouse
Your children
Your ministry
Your health
Your relationships
Your finances
Your will. Your wishes. Your longings.
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah” (Ps. 46:10-11).
Look what happens when you “be still.”?
You will know Him as your God.
You will see Him exalted.
You will see Him personally fight with (for?) you.
You will find protection and strength through Him.
The world has a negative view of surrender. To them it means, “You’re a loser; you’re weak. You gave up and now have nothing left.” But surrender for Christians is this: “I didn’t lose; I gained! And I’m not fighting against God; He’s fighting with (for) me. We’re both on the same side; I am victorious with Him and through Him.”
I can’t help but think about what Jim Elliot said: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
We think surrender is all about us. How about we re-think surrender to be all about God?
Ruth Ann Larkly lives in the beautiful Verde Valley with her husband Tim and four children: Tirzah, Hardy, Acarith, and Selah. Tim is an interim pastor at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Camp Verde, AZ. Ruth Ann enjoys speaking, teaching, and writing. She has written four Bible studies: "Your Faith Affects Your Family, vol. 1," "Your Faith Affects Your Family, vol. 2," "Your Family's Faith Affects Other Families," and "Growing in Every Season of Life." These can be purchased on Amazon. She also has a Facebook page called "Happy as a Larkly" where she enjoys teaching and encouraging ladies.