When Surrender is No Longer Surrender

To the competitive person the concept of surrender is about as comfortable to talk about as walking around with a jagged-edged marble-sized rock in your shoe. It just irritates with each movement of the lips in a conversation about surrender. Surrendering is "giving up" and what person with any competitive spirit wants to give up? This strikes our egos. This forces us to say "we were wrong" or "we didn't do it right".

However, there is another way of looking at surrender that doesn't have to fall into a category similar to the above mentioned aspect. Surrender can also include putting aside that pride and doing what is best for someone. It may mean simply being selfless. It could mean that you are willing to put control into the hands of someone else.

How do you view the concept of surrender? As you think about that, take a look at this week's quote...

Sometimes what seems like surrender isn't surrender at all. It's about what's going on in our hearts. About seeing clearly the way life is and accepting it and being true to it, whatever the pain, because the pain of not being true to it is far, far greater. ~ Nicholas Evans, "The Horse Whisperer"

Surrendering is a matter of choice. Even if you are mobbed and outnumbered, you still make the choice of when to stop fighting and surrendering. Sometimes it may appear painful, whereas other times it can be empowering, oddly enough.

The church has sang a song for a number of years..."I Surrender All". We are singing about how we are going to surrender our life to Jesus. How we are going to give up ourselves for the sake of serving Him. Is this a case of "surrender isn't surrender"?

Does someone who must give up their position to a new person surrender in a negative way or positive? It probably depends on how you look at it...whether you see it as "best for the company" or "I'm no good anymore".

As we think about surrendering, whether it is to Jesus or to self, it isn't always a bad thing or "actually surrender". We are giving up control so that we can give control over to someone or something else. It allows us to avoid the pains of life to be accepting as what is true.

The next time you are met with surrender...evaluate why you are surrendering and maybe, just maybe, it is something you need to do.

Learning to surrender, even when painful...