Surrender and Submission

Surrender and Submission.  It is funny how one carries a great weight and the other feels for freeing.  To surrender is to lay down a great weight.  But submission.  That feels like a giving up beneath the weight of another. One is to let go and another is to be held down. At least that's how the world sees it. 

But surrender and submitting in the eyes of the Lord go hand and hand. In times of weakness I surrender.  I have lately been running (maybe crawling) to the Lord in weariness.  I can’t make sense of things. I can’t hear truth in the noise.  I can’t see a way. So I surrender.  I lay down and ask the Lord to take over.  I am so limited. And I have never been more reminded of that lately.

Surrender is letting go and letting Him take the lead. Letting Him show you and lead you.  Correct you. Care for you and those you want to care for.  It is letting Him fight the fight, and taking His strength to fight behind Him.

Surrender is saying I am yours Lord, not my own. 

But surrender is temporary and futile without submission.

Surrender is not surrender unless I say “Lord you do it… and do it Your way.”

That is submission. It has to be His way.  

Which means we have to turn from our way.  Turn from the world’s way.  Turn from what seems right. And fight for what the Lord says is right. To admit and repent for the ways that feel logical to us, but do not align with scripture.  It is challenging the world’s way and recognizing the way we have been operating in it as well.

Submission means allowing God to not just take over, but allowing Him to renew your mind and Spirit.  Which will be met with resistance not just internally, but externally.

His way will not look like the world’s way.  His way will come with steps of faith that do not make sense.  His way might offend some people.  It might alienate others. 

It means submission means taking action when you don’t feel like it.  Speaking truth that is unpopular. It means laying down your rights to certain things. It often means being uncomfortable. 

Surrender is a laying down of ourselves.  And submission is often standing up into what God is calling us to. Obedience. Sonship. Image bearers. Not image managers. He is calling us to His truth. Not our logic. The world’s crusades.  He is calling us to trust Him to fight His fight.  And to stand with Him on the firm foundation of His word and character.  

To empathize with those around me, and to point them to Jesus.

To  submit means to not only acknowledge that our way is not God’s way. But to actively walk in obedience. To acknowledge even that this is not how we might actually do things, but we want to follow the Lord into uncomfortable obedience.  Because He is worthy.  He sees the whole picture.  He knows what’s best.

Today I am choosing both surrender and submission.  And neither are easy, but both are vital.