Surrender

Over the last few years God has asked me to surrender, to release control of a lot of things in my life.

For me, in recent years, surrender has meant letting go of things.
My women's small group.
Two babies lost to miscarriage.
Involvement in creative arts.
Involvement in drama.
Involvement in sermon research.
Involvement in worship ministry.

I have been learning to hold things loosely, to remember that everything belongs to God--not to me.

As we sang yesterday, "All to you I surrender . . .", I asked myself, "Am I willing to surrender my writing? Am I willing to surrender teaching? Am I willing to surrender my schooling?"

To me the question meant: Am I willing to let go of these things that mean so much to me and walk away?

As we sang, God showed me that sometimes surrender means letting go of fear and moving ahead boldly. Stepping out of hiding and into the open, doing things that involve some risk.

Surrender is about releasing control of my life and allowing God to be Lord. About following him wherever he leads.

Sometimes it means letting go of things.
And sometimes it means forging ahead--by the power of God.