Today is the finale of our series called “The Surrendered Life.” For the past six weeks, we’ve leaned into the six Surrender Principles from my Surrendered Bible study. These six principles aren’t “to-dos” for us to follow in order to magically fix our situations. Rather, these guides equip us to trust God rather than take matters into our hands.

 

 

As women, we love hard. We devote our lives to caring others, and we willingly make tremendous sacrifices for the people and things we love. Even when we’re worn down to the bone, we keep showing up, and  we won’t give up as long as we think someone who needs our help. This is what makes us amazing!

 

But there’s a but…Our heart for others and our dedication to our loved ones can trip us up when it comes to recognizing when a situation is beyond our control or when our helping is hurting someone. When something isn’t working, our mindset sounds like “Well, let me try something else” or “Let me reach out to them one more time.”

 

We drag our feet toward surrender because of the fear that if we stop the swirl of running after people, showing up for every crisis, or trying to fill all the needs, something terrible will happen. We equate letting go of control with letting people down, and that’s not true. Yes, people may become upset if we’re not available to come to their rescue, but that doesn’t mean we’re letting them down. It just means that we stop letting their problems and crises control us. Have you ever thought about it like that?

Toward the end of the well-known movie, “The Help,” the villain, Miss Hilly, threatens Abilene with prison as well as exposing Abilene’s participation in a book to everyone in their town. Miss Hilly wants to push Abilene into submission and bend to Hilly’s will. One of the most powerful lines in the movie happens when Abilene steps into Miss Hilly’s personal space and calmly says, “Ain’t you tired, Miss Hilly? Ain’t you tired?”

Perhaps you’ve heard God whisper the same question to you…

 

 

Without surrender, our hearts will become resentful and eventually hopeless. Instead of loving people well, our hearts become cynical or even bitter because either the person or situation doesn’t align with the picture in our head of how things should be. Yet when we give the situation over to God, the space where we plotted our attempts to fix it fills with God’s peace. This act of faith pulls us out of hopelessness, but only if we decide to do it.

 

Today’s verse is popular and perfect for our conversation today. As I reflected on surrender, I saw this verse in a new light. Check this out:

 

 

Once we’ve done all we can in a situation, we need to tell God we surrender. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. God’s peace, power, and provision are waiting for us – but those blessings can’t move in if your heart and mind are filled to the brim with anxiety and stress. If you’d like to see more blessings, check out the bottom of today’s devotion for “The Blessings of the Surrendered Life” from my Surrendered Devotion.

 

As we wrap, I don’t want you to start your week with any heaviness in your heart. Friend, can you take a moment and give what’s weighing you down to God? Let’s do this together. We’re going to review today’s verse again. This time, fill in the blank with your situation that you need to surrender to God today: