We often see surrender as painful. We picture something we love being pried from our grasping hands or tears falling on something we give up as an act of our will.
Surrender has a sweet side too.
When Abraham surrendered his beloved son, Isaac, as God asked, he experienced the sweetness of God’s pleasure. You can almost hear the elation in the Lord’s voice when he said, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12). When we love God, we want to please Him, and the sacrifice we make for that pleasure is worth it. Our surrender blesses the heart of God because by it we show we trust Him even when it does not make sense. The flexing of our faith is no longer just words, but action.
Surrender is sweet also because it opens the way for God to bless those we love.
“I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me “ Genesis 22:16-18.
You and I are beneficiaries of Abraham’s surrender.
Now it’s your turn. God is waiting to shower you and those you love with blessings, but you must first surrender to Him. I have found it helps to keep my eyes on Jesus and the love He has shown. When I fill my mind with all the times God has been faithful in the past, surrender becomes easier in the present.
Yes, surrender is painful, but it ushers in something so much better than anything we lay down. I pray you have the courage and trust to let go of whatever God is asking. I know your joy will be full when God replaces your sacrifice with a blessing sweeter that you ever imagined.