SURRENDERING

Have you ever wondered how do I surrender everything to God? I pray to give things up but don't know if that is enough. I think I am scared if I let go of everything I might lose myself and all that I define myself as. It’s as if I would cease to be anyone I ever knew.

And so I ask the most central, most important question of all and it is not at all silly, but rather one of the most important questions to be explored. The key to all religious knowledge and spiritual practice is surrender. I sense the answer: "I pray to give things up..." That sounds like the desire to surrender; now you just need to simply do it. They say the best way to do that is to actually just "give up." Refrain from thinking and acting on your own, thinking that you have ultimate power to control everything in your life.

The act of surrender is very simple -- you accept that you are not alone in life, that there is something more, a Creator who created you, and is bigger than just you. You realize that by thinking you are separate from this Power, this Creator, you actually make yourself separate. Surrendering is uniting with God, or the Creator and letting Him guide you in all that you do. Before you were ever born, He thought of you and had a destiny for you to achieve; a dream for your life and a hope that you would fulfill.

Each major religion has a prophet, or mediator for surrendering, which may be helpful. Or you may go directly to God, as you see best. As a Christian, I surrender to God through Jesus Christ. I say a prayer all day long, every day, "Lord Jesus, I am Yours." or "Lord Jesus, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me" (which is an ancient Orthodox prayer). If you are not religious, but consider yourself Spiritual, surrendering to a Higher Power or even the Spirit of God may be helpful. I believe there is One God, and God is present in all faiths. You have to start somewhere—you may as well start at the top!

Most of all, please remember you're not actually giving anything up in the act of surrender, other than your separation from God. Through surrendering, you are uniting with All There Is, and taking a tremendous, impossible burden off your shoulders. You are putting your life into God's hands, which is a very beautiful, loving gift. After all, your life is a gift from God and it's a divine act to be able to return the gratitude. Congratulations on a wonderful question. Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest (relief from anxiety) Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls for My yoke is easy (comfortable) and My burden is light.” A yoke is put on an ox and he pushes against it, pulling the load, balancing the workload. Jesus is saying that He will bring the balance we seek in life. If we take His yoke, we are connected to Him. An old ox was often put with a young ox. The old ox taught the younger one to cooperate. (Matt.11: 28-30). Our soul is the essence of who we are; the seat of our desires, passions and fears. The soul is the center of our heart, mind and emotions; hence, the part of us that lives forever. We as humans are born in sin and that nature gets overburdened with pain, confusion, need, anger at what we wanted but never was given, etc. The list is nearly endless. But I have found that as I read God’s Word, it somehow changes me. It brings me to a place where surrender is what I desire as much as God and in doing so, surrender takes place. It’s not all by my power alone for I would stay the same, but the Spirit of God in me makes it possible.