What surrender really means

I have gotten it all wrong.

When I spoke about “surrendering to God” in my prayers, I thought it was an act of giving up, the raising of the white flag. For the longest time, I thought it meant just turning my back, not caring anymore and just letting God do the works.

Surrendering to God, I saw as merely associated with problems, an act of unburdening that could relieve you of the stress, the pain, the anxiety – sort of a magical power hoping that the act of surrender could take all these away. At church, I often witness the loudest “Amen” when there is mention of surrendering our financial woes to God, as if it could be the end to our financial struggles. I had often “surrendered” my personal struggles and my inconsistent prayer life, to God, too.

Yet, it did not work for me. I knew that I got it all wrong because this kind of surrender has led me nowhere. The way my life is tracking, was pointing to apathy, a lack of progress. I felt I was going back, true to what I thought surrender was – giving up.

Until I discovered Fr. Mike Schmitz’s YouTube clip, “What surrender really looks like”. This shattered all my preconceptions.

For one, not only do we surrender problems and our pains. It often is the case though that we remember God in our prayers, in our most trying times. But how about surrendering our successes? Surrendering our successes means allowing God to use us for the good of others. That means granting God the “access to our lives”. Surrender means asking God, “What do you want me to do with my successes, my treasures?”.

Yes, surrendering requires action.

As for our pain, yes, we do surrender them but don’t expect that this could magically go away. Surrendering our pain means, allowing God to access our heart and letting the Mind of God, rule us. What does God want me to do in this situation?

Even in moments when we feel it is a dead end, we surrender in His wisdom. God knows when it is the end. He also knows every fresh start. We just need to entrust to Him EVERYTHING.