Surrender Is Best For Me
Our daughter, Rebecca, was in competitive gymnastics during her elementary school years. Agility and flexibility were part of her DNA, so, twisting, tumbling, the splits, and a host of other complex skills were relatively easy for her. For me it was a true delight to watch her practice and perform in meets. Imagining her quitting was difficult….that is what my husband wanted her to do. So Dennis and I began a very long conversation about the cost, financially and as a time commitment for her, for us and our entire family, as we considered her continuing to a higher level of competitive gymnastics. For three long months, we went back and forth, back and forth on the pros and cons of the option in front of us. (For the full-length, dramatic version of of our conversation, check out my book Letters to My Daughters.) One day, after many mental gymnastics meets of my own, I came to a personal conclusion. My thinking went something like this:
I know that I am a Christian. That means my life is not my own, I belong to Jesus. Years ago and many times since, I have surrendered my heart and my will to His. He has never left me. His will has always been what’s best for me.
I know what the Bible says to me about being a wife. I also believe the Bible to be the inerrant word of God. Therefore, I must once again choose to believe God’s words to me are still true and relevant. His Word tells me to follow—or submit, the word we women love to hate—l to my husband’s leadership.
I don’t want to follow him, Lord, but I do want to obey You. So because I know YOU don’t makes mistakes, I choose today to surrender my desires for my daughter and my will to You. And one last time, I pray you will change my husband’s mind. Amen.
The rest of this story is that God didn’t change my husband as I had hoped, but instead changed my perspective to see what the long-term costs would mean for all of us. God gave me peace that this was, in fact, His leading us through my husband. It happened because I surrendered to God and His will with a willingness to follow my husband.
This is but one of the thousands of times I have surrendered my heart, will, desires, dreams, hopes, fears, and my everything to my Savior, Jesus. Surrender is the doorway to the life He came to give you and me. And it is a daily need. Though my desire is to begin each day with renewed surrender sometimes my first waking thoughts are consumed with all the to dos before me, or with anxiety and what ifs. Eventually, I remember to give it all to Jesus and resume my day with a surrendered heart. May the words and tune of this old hymn get stuck in your head, reminding you over and over that to surrender to Jesus your Savior is always in your best interest.