“This is how our holiness grows, by small surrenders, without which we cannot finally become free.” – Emilie Griffin

We want to be in control of where we go, what we eat, how we dress, how we spend, where we work, where we worship, and everything else. Yet God calls us to surrender. Surrendering means letting God control all of those decisions. Surrendering is hard. Maybe impossible.

So how does anyone do the impossible? One small step at a time. One small surrender at a time: Letting someone else choose the movie. Going to church when we’d rather be working in the garden. Not taking charge of every conversation. Even going to sleep at night can be a surrender.

J Todd Billings in his book, The End of the Christian Life, says that when we fall asleep at night. “We don’t think ourselves to sleep. We surrender our bodies to being overtaken (by sleep). . .” To Billings, going to sleep at night is a way of learning to surrender control of our bodies, our minds. Maybe that’s why some of us have a hard time sleeping. Our minds are still engaged in trying to control the world around us.

And, whether we are healthy or sick, young or old, we are eventually facing death. How can we live full and productive lives knowing that an end is coming over which we have no control? How will we be able to surrender our bodies and souls to him in life or in death? Only by small surrenders now, bigger ones as we get grow in our faith. The better we get at surrendering day-by-day, the easier our final surrender will be.

“. . . this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.” – Isaiah 66:2b