Surrender or Fear? You Choose

What keeps you awake at night? What weighs on your heart? What causes you worry, distress, or fear? For some of you, the answers may come quickly and easily. You may feel like the list is too long to even mention. Others of you may not currently be battling anything that would cause concern. If so, consider yourself blessed! Some of you may have plenty of things that could stress you out, but you have learned how to give those things over to God. Wherever you may find yourself, I believe you will be encouraged as you read this blog.

I can remember a time in my life when everything was going well. I told a friend that I didn’t understand why things were so good for me when I saw many of my friends and family dealing with so much. Well, things have changed! I won’t go into details about what I have faced over the last few years, but suffice it to say, I now know what it is like to have multiple opportunities for worry, distress, grief, and fear.

It has not been an easy road, but God has been faithful to me. He has made His presence evident in my life and filled me with His peace that passes all understanding. I have experienced firsthand His mercies that are new every morning. God has surrounded me with a wonderful support group of friends and family who have prayed with and for me, as well as encouraged me. But even with all these blessings, some difficulties have weighed so heavy on my heart – things that have brought great pain and heartache to people I love – that I have no power to fix.

During this season, God has worked in my heart and spoken some things to me that have not only helped me but, I believe, can help others. The main thing He has shown me is that when situations are beyond my power to control or change, I can choose worry, fear, and distress, or I can choose to surrender them to God. Where there is surrender, there is no room for fear.

One of the definitions of surrender is to give up or hand over (a person, right, or possession). Another definition is to abandon oneself entirely, to give in to. Surrender can involve us abandoning ourselves and everything that concerns us to God, or it could mean giving our loved ones over to Him.

I Peter 5:7 (TPT) says, “Pour out your worries and stress upon Him and leave them there, for He always tenderly cares for you.” The Message Bible says, “Live carefree before God; He is most careful with you.” Doesn’t that sound appealing? Living carefree before God? Is that really possible? Yes, it is, or it would not be in God’s Word. Not to say it is easy, but it is possible.

But in order to cast all our cares on God, we must believe that He loves us unconditionally and has our best interests at heart. I John 4:18 (NASB) says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.” In order for us to cast all our cares on Him, we must believe in God’s love that casts out all fear. When we know God loves us, our family, and our friends, it’s easier to surrender to Him. John 14:1 (TPT) says, “Don’t worry or surrender to your fear.” We can choose to surrender to God or surrender to fear.

Many times recently, I have either knelt before God or been flat on my face before Him, surrendering people and situations to Him. There’s something about being facedown on the floor that brings perspective. When I am helpless to fix the difficulty that either I or someone else is facing, the best thing I can do is pray and give it over to God. He is able to carry it when I can’t. He never expected us to carry the burdens – not those of ourselves or those of others. Our responsibility is to pray and give all of our worries, cares, and concerns to him so we can live carefree before God!