Are you facing a difficult situation that is challenging your surrender to God’s will? Is there an area in your life where you are avoiding God’s will?
Many believers will only go so far in their surrender to God’s will, for fear of loss of control or possible pain. Higher communion with God only comes if we learn to do deep crucifixion of our will, even if some of our desires are not sinful in themselves. This is a psychologically painful process because we prefer to live in comfort and spiritual sweetness. We forget that nothing could be better for us than God’s will; how could our will ever be better than God’s? Surrendering to God’s will may allow more harm to come to us in this life than if we did not surrender (for example, the lives of Jesus and his Apostles), but is it not better to allow him to turn our crosses into resurrections? His will is the foundation of his kingdom – the community of love that we long for.
Jesus used the gruesome image of the Roman executioner’s cross when he described our submission to God’s will: “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:38-39, NIV). There must be death to our ways and like Jesus’ death, this death is painful and sometimes dark and lonely.
Johannes Tauler (c.1300-1361), taught that one should pray:
“Not my will, Lord, but Yours I shall accept; and should you will that I have nothing, I will surrender for the sake of your will.” To think in such a way, and to renounce self-will with such disposition, is to possess and receive more than could ever have been gained by having one’s own way.[1]
Below is a meditation to help you surrender to God’s will.
- Absorb Scripture. Read John 14:15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (ESV). Study the context if desired. Imagine an image or scene that represents it, or imagine Jesus standing in front of you speaking these words to you; how does this affect you?
- Feelings and Emotions Reflection. Ask yourself: What feelings or emotions (for example, peace, joy, gratefulness, doubt, fear, pain, resistance), if any, did I experience during or after absorbing this passage? Why was I feeling this way?
- Action Commitment. Invite God to reveal your heart then ask yourself: Does my love for Jesus motivate me to fully commit to his will? Do I need to make a greater commitment to doing God’s will? Where in my life am I resisting God’s will? What has been holding me back and how do I overcome that?
- Reception (Contemplation.) Ask God to show you anything you have not fully embraced and anything else he desires to show you, or ask Jesus a question about this topic. Sit with a quiet and open heart for at least 60 seconds.
Now, can you surrender to God in that difficult area?
[1] Tauler, Classics of Western Spirituality, Sermons, 72, (sermon 19).
