A Daily Walk With Surrender

Surrender sounds like a one-time decision, but I'm learning it's a daily walk.

Growing up in church and as a preacher's kid, I have read the Bible but never really studied it. I was going through some difficult times, started going to church again, and just became so hungry to study the bible. I try to read the Bible every day, whether it is a verse or two or a chapter. I was receiving such a blessing that I decided to start my Facebook page, "30 day, I Surrender All Prayer Challenge." Little did I know at that time that the challenge was for me to get through a storm that was coming.

Each morning, I wake up with plans-thoughts already laid out, worries already knocking, expectations quietly setting my day. Every day God invites me to lay those things down again. Not because my plans are wrong, but I can't carry everything alone, and that was never the intention.

Surrender isn't weakness. It is trust.

Some days, surrender looks like releasing control over outcomes I can't predict. I wasn't able to predict some troubled times, even though I felt in my heart they were coming. I tried to reason the outcome, cover up the outcome, forget the outcome, and justify the outcome. Because of the quiet obedience of the 30-day challenge that I was called to do, doing the right thing even when clarity had not arrived yet helped me Surrender All to Him.

There have been moments I wanted answers before I take a step, but faith often asks me to move first and understand later. Sometimes a difficult thing to do. Fighting against flesh vs the spirit.

It is sometimes a daily struggle to surrender it all to Him and to walk daily, surrendering it all to Him. The flesh wants to have control. As I walk with surrender, I stop striving for perfection or answers and start resting in grace. I listen more closely to what the Holy Spirit is speaking to me. My prayers are not always what I want anymore. I pray shorter prayers-sometimes just, "Lord, I trust you with this, I give this problem to you Lord, Lord, I need your help." He knows your heart.

Some days, surrender feels peaceful, like exhaling after holding my breath too long. There are days it feels uncomfortable, like letting go of something familiar, even when it's heavy. Every time I choose surrender, hallelujah, I find God is already there- steady, patient, faithful.

My daily walk with surrender doesn't mean I stop dreaming or hoping. It means I place those dreams in His hands, far more capable than mine. I realize the need to control and choose instead to follow.

And tomorrow morning, I'll do it again.

One step.

One prayer.

One quiet yes.

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act." Psalm 37:5

Christy Landrum