What Does Surrendering to God Actually Look Like?

This week on Wire Talk we answered hard questions about the intersection of motherhood, faith, and dark seasons in our lives.

Because oftentimes, life doesn’t end up the way we thought it would and at the end of the day, that is hard to accept. It’s hard when your child receives a diagnosis you are unprepared for. It’s hard when a job change moves you away from family, friends and familiarity. It’s tragic when a marriage dissolves or when a parent unexpectedly passes away. And amidst all of those situations, as the mom, we have to keep going. We have to remind our kids to brush their teeth, we have to keep the fridge stocked with food, we have to keep the laundry situation somewhat under control. We have to figure out how to keep going when things are not going well.

So how do we make peace with life not turning out like we expected? The only way I know is to actively surrender the situation to God’s will. Surrendering to God is a choice. It truly is. It is an act of the will. You have a choice to follow your own will, or to follow God’s. On the night before his crucifixion, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked if there was any way the cup could be removed from him. He pled with God for the outcome he wanted. And then in the next breath he surrendered, saying, “not as I will, but as You will.”

And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39

Jesus prayed this three times. Three times and he is the son of God! How many more times must we choose to accept and follow after God? Many more.

Practice this posture of surrendered prayer this week: with your palms down in front of you, verbally lay whatever it is that you are struggling with before the Lord. Say out loud, “Lord I give this [situation] to you.” Then turn your palms up and open them to God saying, “Yet not as I will, but as You will.”

For more on this, download the BOAW app for free and watch the video The Scoreboard of Life from the Six Truths of Motherhood curriculum.