Placing Our Lives in God’s Hands: What Surrender Really Looks Like

From the Quiet Reflections series

As Christians, we know that we need to surrender our lives to God. But what does that actually mean, and how do we do it?

Have you ever had an idea for something you really wanted to do? So you made all these plans for how to accomplish it. You worked really hard, sacrificing whatever was necessary to get closer to your goal. You were driven and dedicated. Nothing was going to stand in your way or stop you from achieving what you thought was the perfect plan.

Yet no matter how hard you tried, something always seemed to derail you. For a while, it only made you more stubborn and determined, because you wanted it badly enough to take on the world if you had to.

Somewhere along the way, you realized it was not working out the way you had hoped it would. Your heart began to hurt, and you wondered what had happened. That heartbreak sometimes turned into anger, or even resentment toward God. You felt stuck and did not know what to do next.

In desperation, maybe even feeling abandoned, you finally turned to God in prayer.

My friend, you can be sure that as you speak to our Heavenly Father, He is right there beside you, listening to every word you say to Him. He always was. But here is the thing: He will wait for you to invite Him into the situation.

He wants to lead and guide you through this journey of life, but you have to ask Him and then be willing to surrender your own will to His. Jesus gave us the perfect example of this when He prayed before His crucifixion:

So what does surrender actually look like? How do we surrender our will to God’s, and how do we know the difference?

Surrender begins with honesty. We come before God and tell Him what we want, what we fear, and what we do not understand. But instead of demanding our own way, we choose to place those desires into His hands.

Does surrendering our will to God’s mean we stop having desires or making plans? No, but it does mean we stop insisting that things happen according to our own understanding, our own timing, and our own way. It means being able to say, “Lord, this is what I want, but above all, I want Your will to be done.”

One way we can tell the difference is by examining our hearts. Are we asking God to lead us, or are we only asking Him to approve of the plan we have already made? Are we willing to obey His Word, even when it challenges what we want? Are we trusting Him, or are we trying to control the outcome ourselves?

Sometimes surrender means letting go of something we deeply wanted. Sometimes it means waiting when we would rather move ahead. Sometimes it means changing direction entirely. But true surrender always brings us back to trusting that God knows better than we do, and believing that His way is right even when it is hard. As King David says in the book of Psalms:

Surrender is a choice we must make over and over again. But God is patient, and He understands the struggles we face. He does not ask us to come to Him with perfect faith, but with a willing heart. Little by little, as we learn to trust Him, we begin to see that surrender is never about losing something good. It is always about placing our lives into the hands of a faithful Father whose love for us is everlasting, who leads us and knows exactly what we need.

A Quiet Moment with God

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the times I hold on too tightly to my own plans. Help me to always trust You more than I trust myself. Teach me to place my hopes, fears, and every unanswered question into Your hands. Lead me in Your will and show the way You would have me go.

In Jesus’ name, Amen