Victory Through Surrender

Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it.” LUKE 9:23-24

When you think of the word surrender, what comes to mind? Is it victory, freedom, and breakthrough? Or is it defeat, captivity, and loss? Victory through surrender doesn’t sound like something the world would find logical. But isn’t that just like God to choose things the world considers foolish? God doesn’t think like us because He sees the beginning and the end and His ways are far beyond anything we could imagine.

For example, did you know God doesn’t want what’s good for you? That’s right! He actually wants what’s best for you. Jesus tells us if we want to be His followers, we must give up our own way, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. And if we give up our life (basically surrender our life to Him for His sake), we’ll save it and not lose it. If you truly believe this in your heart and know this in your mind, you can live a life surrendered to Him without concern. However, if you struggle with inviting God into every area of your life, mistrust might take root.

It’s difficult to surrender anything to someone we don’t trust, but by spending time with God and getting to know Him, we learn how loving, faithful, and trustworthy He is. We can do this by reading our Bible daily, seeking Him in prayer, and building relationships with like-minded friends who are also pursuing God for their life.

William Booth, the co-founder of the Salvation Army, once said, “The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.” Surrendering everything to God is something we need to do daily. It requires us to die to ourselves in order to grab hold of His best. Any areas we choose to hold become our responsibility and not God’s, which includes all decisions, planning, and execution. Since we have limited resources with a limited view of what’s ahead, it’s silly to think we have a complete understanding and control of these areas.

We have the greatest partner in all the world who sees every turn, every hurdle, and every shadow before us. He wants to give us an abundant life and victory through surrender. Is it easy? No. Is it worthwhile? Absolutely!

Lord, You gave it all and You ask the same of us. Please, help me surrender every area of my life to You. Thank You for not allowing me to settle for good when You’re offering what’s best. Continue to reveal Your true character to me as I draw near to know You more and more. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, amen!