The Art of SURRENDER
Lilias Trotter is a beautiful example of a woman whose whole life was marked by the art of surrender. She surrendered her life and her talents to the Lord in a way that did not make sense to many others. Lilias had a God-given talent for making art, she even had the opportunity to become one of the greatest artist of her time. Yet, the Lord stirred up her heart for missionary work. After much prayer and deliberation, Lilias decided to become a full time missionary.
As a missionary, Lilias kept journals of her writing and artwork. Here are some words she wrote on the art of surrender:
“See in these wild iris-pods how the last tiny threads must be broken, and with that loosing, all that they have is free for God’s use in His world around. All reluctance, all calculating, all holding in is gone; the husks are opened wide, the seeds can shed themselves unhindered...May God shew us everything withholding thread of self that needs breaking still, and may His own touch shrivel it into death.” - Lilias Trotter
Now, our surrendering does not have to look the same as Lilias’ did. The art of surrender is about the heart; it is about relinquishing our control over our lives and giving our hearts to the Lord - whatever He has for us.
“Turn full your soul’s vision to Jesus, and look and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him, and the Divine ‘attrait’ by which God’s saints are made. . . will lay hold of you. For ‘He is worthy’ to have all there is to be had in the heart that He has died to win.” - Lilias Trotter
Your Life is Not Your Own
What threads of self are you still holding on to? In other words, what areas of your life have you been unwilling to surrender to God? Christ says that it is when you lose your life that you will find it (Matthew 16:25).
Jesus Christ bought your life with His blood. Your life is no longer your own.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." - Galatians 2:20
Praise Jesus for this. For when you lay down your life for the sake of Christ you will truly find your life.
“And He was saying to them all, 'If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself?” - Luke 9:23-25
Jim Elliot, a Missionary who gave His life for Christ said it as such:
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Everything in this life is temporary except salvation and that which is done for the kingdom.
“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.” - 1 John 3:16
Lord, Not My Will
Are you willing to surrender every aspect of your life to the Lord? To lay down every dream and plan that you have for your life? To say Lord this is what I desire for my life, yet not my will, but your will be done. Trusting that even if following after Christ looks like the death to every dream you have, that God is still Good and that His plan is far better than yours - even when you don’t understand (Proverbs 3:5-8; Proverbs 19:21, Ephesians 1:11,Romans 8:28, Job 42:2).
“Trusting in Christ is our heart throwing itself into the arms of Jesus, renouncing its own will, and yielding itself to His sovereign will – to be carried wherever he pleases.” – A. Craig Troxel
The Ultimate Surrender
Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, is the only one who perfectly surrendered His life to the will of God the Father.
“He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done.’ Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!’’ - Matthew 26:42-46
Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for the cup to be taken away from Him if possible, but not for His will, but for His Father’s will to be done. What was this cup? The cup that laid before Jesus was laying down His life for the sake of sinners like us. Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath that should have been poured out on us. He conquered sin and death so that all who believe in Him can be redeemed and restored to a right relationship with the Father (Matthew 27:45-46; Matthew 27:51, 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:3-11). He gave His life for our sake. When we repent of our sin and place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin, we are then declared legally righteous in Christ (Romans 3:23-26; Romans 5:1). His righteousness covers us and makes us a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).
A Daily Surrender
Jesus gave His life for our’s - He delivered us from the condemnation, bondage, and one day in the future, the presence of sin (Romans 8:1; Romans 6:17-18; Romans 8:17). Therefore, let us in love for what He has done for us, daily seek to surrender our lives to Him. The Lord is not looking for our perfection, but for our hearts (for we all fall short because of sin, which is why we need Jesus).
It is when you are willing to surrender your plan for your life and embrace God’s plan that you can find true rest and satisfaction. For it is there, in the surrendering of ourselves, that we find that our true delight was always in Jesus. He is the reward and the good portion.
To Live
Take some time to reflect on this question and write down your answer: What areas of your life have you been unwilling to surrender to God?
Take some time to bring all that you wrote down to God in prayer.
Pray: “not my will, but yours be done” & for Jesus to be the greatest treasure of your heart.
To Listen
To Read
*this article was originally posted on Kindred Soul Counseling