Can You Surrender to God Even When it Seems Irrational?

Inside: Take the next step that God is asking you to do. Surrender this decision and trust Him, this is the surrender meaning we need to follow!

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A few years ago, I began feeling some inner wrestling. It’s hard to explain, but I was irritable, wired, worn out and bored. I guess I was discontent with my life.

I tried a new eating plan, lost some weight. Got a new haircut and redid the master bedroom. These feelings remained.

Why won’t you answer my prayers, God, and help me? Why can’t I be happy?

God was silent and the feelings continued to fester.

 I could feel the angst in my soul. Nothing could fill this opening in my soul, although I had tried to stuff it with worldly things. The worldly things would bring happiness for a while and then I’d look for something else to fixate on.

The desperation continued; it was feeling of unrest that couldn’t be quieted.

I couldn’t figure out what wasn’t right. I was spending time with God’s Word but nothing was standing out that needed to change.

My husband and I began trying different churches. Did our faith need a little fine-tuning? Was that it?

Around this time, we started spending time in another part of our state and we loved the area. We liked the atmosphere, the community and one particular church in the area.

When we returned home from one of our visits, we both felt like we should move there. We started to pray to make sure that this was part of God’s will and not our plan.

The only problem was that my husband owned a company that was based in the area of the state where we’d be moving from. We weren’t going to sell the company.

Surrender Meaning

The definition of surrender is to yield to the power, control, or possession of another (Merriam-Webster).

Mind: we focus on the good things God wants us to think about.

Body: we understand The Holy Spirit dwells within us so we care for our body and follow God’s word instead of giving into our sinful flesh.

Will: God’s will becomes our target. We ask for wisdom to follow His will and give up living for ourselves but for the purpose of increasing His Kingdom and bringing Him glory!

We realize surrendering is never for our personal benefit, but to exalt God and bring Him the praise.

The truth is, we can’t partially surrender, but we need to work towards a total surrender to God, and not hold anything back if we want God to bless us in extreme ways.

Sometimes Surrendering is Doing Something Ridiculous

When we decided to move, we thought we had we lost our minds. Many of our family would agree this was the dumbest proposition that we could have come up with.

Have you been nudged with a ridiculous idea?

The more we prayed together and apart, the more God was moving in our hearts.

We had to follow through on this nudging. We were too afraid to see what we’d miss if we told God no.

Have you told God no in the past and then kicked yourself because you should have said yes? Why are we so afraid to step out in faith even though we know when we do it, God will bless us.

We had no reason to move. We weren’t following a job or moving closer to the family. It was irrational, but yet in faith, we trusted and believed God needed us to surrender.

Honestly, we wanted a glimpse into the future to see it was the right decision, to avoid problem areas and to see our family enjoying the new area. However, God didn’t give any peeks into it.

Sometimes all God gives are steps and the whole path isn’t illuminated.

We want to see the whole path and the steps to get to the end, don’t we?

Take the next step was all God was asking us to do. Surrender this decision and trust Him.

Faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future.

It’s simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step.

– Joni Erickson Tada

Trusting God Step by Step (Surrender Meaning)

Honestly, this was really hard for me. I wanted to know where the destination ended. Lay out the steps, and I could get the job done. I don’t do well on taking risks.

For example, when I was a girl at camp we used to do an exercise where someone would do a free fall backward while standing and another girl would catch them right before they hit the ground.

I had a hard time with this activity because I didn’t trust that the other person would catch me.  What if they dropped me?

I think I’ve carried this over to God. I say with my mouth I trust God, but in the moments of real trust I chicken out. I’m afraid to free fall.

In these moments when we feel nudging, we have to make a decision. Do we choose the nudging and walk the path trusting God? Or do we blaze our own way?

Every nudge that we feel is an invitation to walk in greater faith. 

4 Tips for Greater Surrender

1. Trust the Leader: Even when we don’t understand and it seems ridiculous.
2. Wait for God’s timing: He knows what He’s doing. He is faithful as seen from the pages of the Bible.
3. Expect miracles: If God is calling you to something, He will provide the miracles to help get it done.
4. Follow God: even when we don’t know where God is sending us or how we can accomplish what He’s asked us to

Do we accept this surrender of the future we envisioned and trust His plans, or do we put in our earbuds and try to silence the feeling? You can firmly place your trust in God, for He is leading you to your final destination.

(Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT).

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;  do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Surrender to Love: Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality (The Spiritual Journey)As You Wish: Finding True Strength in Surrender to GodSurrender: The Heart God Controls (Revive Our Hearts Series)Surrender! The Life Changing Power of Doing God’s WillDangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to GodSay Yes to God: A Call to Courageous SurrenderA Beautiful Defeat: Find True Freedom and Purpose in Total Surrender to GodThe Best Yes: Making Wise Decisions in the Midst of Endless Demands