Surrender: Ceasing to Resist and Struggle
by Debbie Poer
Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
Luke 9:23
Like many of you, at the beginning of each year God has led me to a word or phrase that he wants me to explore in the coming year. This year is no different. In late 2024 the phrase “for the first time” kept recurring in my thoughts and in my conversations with God. But what did that mean? I’ve been a Christ-follower for many, many years. Several times in those quiet moments I was reminded of a friend who was so very excited to grow in her knowledge of the Trinity and how to live like Jesus when she first acknowledged Jesus as her personal Savior. It caused me to stop - had I lost that excitement to grow and live my faith? Was God calling me into an even deeper relationship with Him? When I realized I answered even the slightest “yes” to those questions, I knew for 2025 I would be spending the year rediscovering and diving into a deeper relationship with Jesus – as if “for the first time.”
As the e2 staff team met to flesh out our 2025 theme for our BEncouraged e-newsletter, it was as if the theme and topics outlined were just for me, so I hope they are just for you as well. Over the course of the year, we will explore what it looks like to “Live Like Jesus,” focusing on John’s words in 1 John 2:6, “If I claim to be a Christian, I must live as Jesus lived.” And what better way to begin the year than to focus on what it looks like when we surrender to Him.
Isn’t it interesting that often when we mention a word we realize it conveys one idea in the context of our faith, but it expresses a different idea when discussed outside of our faith? Such is the word surrender. For most of us our first thought when we hear the word “surrender” might be to think of it as a military action or as giving oneself over to another person. And while those are accurate definitions of the word it has a much deeper meaning, as well. The website etymologyworld.com includes in its definition of surrender, to cease resisting or struggling. I love that!
When I think of ceasing to resist or struggle, I immediately think of a wiggly toddler. He or she can be squirming to the point of exhausting their adult, but when he/she stops what a sense of peace overwhelms both. Or in a military battle, surrender means one party declares the fight is over and they will no longer resist. When I stop trying to do things in my own time or my own way and surrender to God, I am no longer fighting against his desire for my life. The words of Proverbs 3:5-6 ring true, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways and he will make your paths straight.” What a sense of peace envelops me when I cease to resist or struggle.
But like so much of our faith walk, surrendering is easier said than done. Like Paul in Romans 7:15, I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. I want to do what is right, but I don’t. Again and again, I must surrender myself (cease to resist or struggle) to Jesus and follow his teachings. And that leads me back to how do I do that? By being daily in God’s Word, in prayer, and in communion with fellow believers, so that I more fully understand Jesus’ words. Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23
The biggest question about surrendering to Jesus is the why? Why would I choose to take up my cross daily – to be exposed to the bullying and threats of the non-believing world? One word – eternity. God gives us the privilege of choosing where we want to spend eternity. The book of John is filled with words and promises of eternal life if we believe Jesus and follow him. I encourage you to read through John, but here are a few to get you started:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. John 3:36
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to who shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68
So, I choose to surrender to Jesus, take up my cross daily, and follow him. What about you? Are you willing to begin 2025 by ceasing to resist and struggle against the Lordship of Jesus, choosing to take up your cross daily to follow him?
