Surrender

The task of doing and saying what God wants instead of what we personally want is truly very difficult. Naturally, our minds, which are always grinding with thoughts, will direct us to think about something, be it to say or do or just a mere thought. How easy it would be if we had a switch to turn our brains off and on whenever necessary. Without this switch, it is a skill to master over time. 

Being able to do what God wants takes a total surrendering to Him. It requires a lot of self-denial. When one wants to do God's will but the mind points to another direction, one must deny oneself and pray for the grace to stop thinking and let God take over. 

What is surrendering? In a war, to surrender to the enemy would mean more than just raising the white flag. It is an acknowledgement that we cannot win the war, that we are less powerful and able, that the enemy is far stronger and superior than us. We know that we are at their mercy and they can use their authority over us to do whatever they want of us. If we retaliate further, we will surely be punished. It is a total submission to the enemy's authority over us. They can choose to let us free, enslave us, force us to do a whole load of things if we want to keep our lives. 

The difference between surrendering to an enemy in a war and surrendering to God is that He is not our enemy but our help. But what's similar is that when we surrender to Him, it really means to let Him take complete control over our lives. We accrue to Him entire authority over us, that our lives no longer is ours to keep but His to use. Without the knowledge and acknowledgement that God is the superior Being, far more powerful than we ever are, we can never entrust ourselves to this God in total submission. And it is a humbling process that we need to go through for us to be able to submit to anyone. To acknowledge God as superior, we need to first acknowledge our failings, weaknesses and limitations. We need to be humble, to strip ourselves of all traces of vanity, pride and falsehood. We need to get real of who we really are with the wisdom that God cannot be fooled; even if we may fool the world about what lies in our deepest corner of our hearts, God sees it all and knows it all. 

Surrendering to God is a total letting go of oneself. Without letting go of oneself, there is no space within us for God at all. God cannot possibly enter into our hearts if our hearts are so full of ourselves. In all humility and honesty, empty our hearts completely of things of this world that cannot stand the test of time, and then let God fill these hearts with His love, goodness and peace.