Surrender
By Emil C. Liko

People think surrender is a sign of weakness, but it's not. Ask any soldier about surrendering after he's fought with everything he had, everything he could do, and tried to formulate every strategy he and his fellow soldiers could possibly come up with. Surrendering was the hardest and last thing on his agenda.

Sometimes God will allow us to continue to fight until we find out the true meaning of "sweet" surrender. When we surrender to God, we're not surrendering to the enemy to become a captive. We surrender to be set free. This is the meaning of true surrender: we don't just trust God with lip service; we trust Him in our hearts and in our minds.

How can you surrender to God when there is something that you won't let go of? When we worry and try to take control of our lives to get us out of our circumstances, we literally bind God's hands from being able to bless us. We're not trusting Him.

Paul says in Philippians 4:12-13, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Paul allowed God to sustain him in every situation; his trust wasn't in his circumstances or in himself but in the Lord's power to strengthen him and provide for him as he surrendered himself to God.

We often talk about how it's easier to just drift along in our comfort zone than to let Him break us out of it. On the other hand, in order to surrender, we also have to be willing for God to break us out of our DIScomfort zone: worry, stress, and strife.

A lot of times when we are filled with worry and stress, we tend to seek other people's influence and past experiences and try to apply them to our lives. But will you cut yourself short if you accept their outcome? Or do you want to hear from the Lord and put your stress and strain and worry behind you when the Lord puts a personalized revelation into your situation? Peace that surpasses all understanding only comes from hearing the voice of God yourself.

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you. Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock." Isaiah 26:3-4

Maybe you worry that you've dug a hole too deep, but be reassured that God is deeper. If you feel you've made too big of a mountain out of a molehill, God is bigger. Regardless, God is wider, taller, shorter, bigger and badder than ANYTHING in any situation that you are in. And one more thing: no matter what your circumstance, surrender it to Jesus. You never have to worry because you're never gonna SHOCK God!

Believe me. I've tried!