Surrendering All

The summer before my sophomore year of college, I started experiencing a health issue.  Without going into too much detail, I will just say that it involved a lot of blood and a bit of discomfort.  After just a few doctor visits and different tests taken and not yet having a diagnosis, I continued googling symptoms on my own.  I looked at sources such as WebMD, and naturally, thought the worst.  That same summer, a Christian song, “Thy Will” by Hillary Scott was popular, as it had been released earlier in the year.  When it came on the radio in my car time after time, I would just cry.  I remember thinking, “what if I’m dying at 19?”  Of course, it was an extreme and dramatic overreaction.  But the beautiful lyrics of that song became a real and raw prayer, as I prayed to accept God’s will.  It was really the first time that I truly surrendered myself to God.

Many of us have believed, at one time or another, that we were in control of our lives.  We get to make our own decisions, decide what we want to do and when we want to do it.  And with this mindset often comes fear, worry, and hopelessness.  We put our trust and faith in ourselves, rather than on God, then face disappointment when things don’t go our way.  But everything changes when we place our trust and faith in God, who loves us and wants only good for us.  Everything changes when we surrender ourselves to Him.  As one line in the song says, “sometimes I gotta stop, remember that you’re God and I am not.”  We need to always remember who is in control.

Surrender is not a one time thing.  It is a continual, lifelong process that takes a lot of work.  It is a choice that we need to make, over and over again.  To surrender means to put everything into the hands of Jesus and just trust.

When we surrender ourselves and our whole lives to Jesus, it means that we do not have to worry about what may come our way, because we know that He is leading the way and will not abandon us.  We will not always be able to understand what He is doing, but we can trust that He is good.
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A great prayer for each of us to pray daily, from the surrender novena, is Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything.”  May we all embrace this powerful line and pray daily to accept God’s will.