The idea of surrender is hard for most of us. We equate it with giving up or quitting something. I remember as a child, it was engrained in my mind, to never give up, to keep pushing and moving forward. This mentality isn't inherently wrong. In fact, it's good. It takes a lot of this kind of 'grit' to make it through this life.

But, what if trusting in the Lord looks more like surrendering then constantly striving? 

In Proverbs 3, we find the call to Trust the Lord. This passage reads, 

 

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

Trust Him. Simple but not easy. Warren Wiersbe put it like this, "“The word translated ‘trust’ in verse 5 means ‘to lie helpless, facedown.’ It pictures a servant waiting for the master’s command in readiness to obey, or a defeated soldier yielding himself to the conquering general.”

What a powerful image! There's a famous quote from Goethe that says, '“Cease endlessly striving for what you would like to do and learn to love what must be done.” Endlessly striving, that's the part that sticks out to me. What if trusting in the Lord, looks more like daily surrender, then constant striving? 

I remember a time, when our kids were little. We had just moved back to the country and our kids were not used to stickers. They took off running across the yard and ran right into a sticker patch. They immediately yelled for help and there were lots of tears. I went to one of them and picked them up. They were thrashing and squirming about. I get it. Stickers hurt. I held them tight as we walked back to the house. Eventually, they stopped flailing around and just let me hold them until the stickers were out. I think sometimes, this image is what it means to trust God. To finally get to a point, where we stop squirming and we surrender. 

I wonder, what areas of your life, do you find yourself constantly striving and pushing forward? 

What thoughts captivate you, when you have nothing to think about? Finances? Relationships? The future? 

Maybe, just maybe, these are the areas and thoughts, that we need to surrender to the Lord and trust Him to do what only He can do.

At the heart of trusting the Lord, is the understanding, that He is trustworthy. He'll never leave nor forsake you. He won't abandon or fail you.

Maybe today, you need to stop endlessly striving, and simply surrender your life, plans and will to a good and gracious King. 

Pastor BC