Are You Truly Surrendered? 7 Ways to Grow Your Trust in God

Hey Friend!

It has been a while since we have had a good solid faith episode and so today, I really wanted to sit in this conversation around surrender and how we can trust in God. I had a dream a couple of weeks ago and I really heard God clearly remind me to surrender.

David’s (And Our) Reminder to Trust in God

This morning it came up when I was in my scripture time too. I am currently sitting in 1 Samuel and am reading all about where David is under attack by Saul. Saul gets extremely jealous of David and David is trying to run for his life. Jonathan and his wife, who is actually Saul’s daughter, are helping David evade Saul. God keeps reminding David, through these people in his life, to trust Him. He keeps showing up for David and protecting him. No matter what enemy comes up against him or what happens to him, David is still victorious.

Surrender and Trust Keep David Safe

I think that when we look deeply into this story about David, we see that he is completely and fully surrendered to God. He fully and deeply trusts God’s hand over his life and even though he is afraid, he keeps taking action and keeps moving forward and keeps his faith in the Almighty God.

Surrender and Build Your Trust in God

That is what we are talking about today. We are talking about trust in God and surrender. I don’t know where this conversation finds you but it finds me in a place where I am looking at a very fallen world. I am looking at a lot of fears around how to protect my kids with all the things that are happening in the world. We are living in a world that is full of opposition against Christianity and there is a lot of confusion right now around what it means to be a Christian.

Different places in the world are dealing with starvation, with inflation, with political unrest. There is so much going on that we are reminded that we are to be surrendered. We are to be fully completely trusting of God’s plan through all of this and be surrendered to whatever that looks like for each of us in our businesses and in our lives.

What Does it Mean to Surrender Biblically?

I wanted to begin with this question: What does it mean to surrender Biblically? When we look at scripture, we find that surrender is truly submitting ourselves to the will of God. This involves relinquishing control over our life, over trying to figure out the outcomes, over making decisions without God’s authority and guidance. When we look at the Bible, this true act of surrender is seen as an act of trust and humility before God. It is an act of faith. It is an act of obedience.

So here are a few aspects of surrender that I want to dig into.

Number 1: Yielding Control

I have mentioned this above but this literally means letting go of your own desires, your own plans, and your own ambitions in favor of aligning with God’s desires for you and His plans and His ambitions over your life. It is His will over our way and it is all about recognizing that God’s ways are the best ways. He is much wiser than we are!

Proverbs 3:5-6 says Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to Him and He will make your paths straight. This verse reminds us not to lean on ourselves but to submit to Him and He will make our way straight. I know that this is one that so many of us struggle with. It’s one I really struggle with. I love control. Control makes me feel like I’ve got it all together.

But really, I think that control is such a deception because we are never in control. Everything is God’s anyway. So if you find yourself struggling with this one, pray and ask God to help you really surrender that control factor.

Number Two: Trust

We have to surrender by placing trust in God, in His goodness, His wisdom and His sovereignty. This involves us believing that God truly does have our best interests at heart and that He is going to guide us in the right direction. That takes trust and sometimes trust is one of the hardest things for us to lean into.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. This verse tells us that God knows more than we do. God understands so much more than we do. God knows about all those things I mentioned at the beginning that I am afraid of and how the world seems to be so hard and fallen. There is a master plan here. There is divinity at work and we just need to trust that our God is good all the time. And that takes surrender.

Number Three: Humility

When we surrender, this is truly an act of humility. It is basically us acknowledging that we are finite. We have a limited time on earth. But God is infinite. God is all-knowing. He is the great I Am. It involves recognizing our need for God’s guidance. We recognize that we need Him because we don’t have all the answers. We barely have any of them except knowing that God is the way and that Jesus is life.

And we are going to follow Him and we are going to abide by the Holy Spirit. That is what we know to be true and what we know that the Bible says to be true. Everything else is just humility. It is knowing that we are these fragile creations of God’s and that He has all the power. James 4:10 says Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.

Number Four: Obey God’s Commands

Surrender involves obeying and obedience. Sometimes I think that this can sound oppressive. It sounds like ‘I have to do what God says and be disciplined’. But truly, this is something that is found in the Bible. It is not just verbal surrender but it is us actually living out what the Bible says to do. All it means to obey and to be obedient and to be disciplined is to actually live out the word in practical obedience.

If God says ‘Love your neighbor’, actually obey that. Go and love your neighbor. If God’s word says ‘Do not lie’, be honest. If His word tells us to forgive, actually carry out the act of forgiving and move and walk into forgiveness. Simply put, to be obedient means to walk in alignment with God’s word and that takes surrender. Who wants to obey and be disciplined? It is sometimes against our human nature but it is 100% Biblical.

John 14:5 says If you love me, keep my commands. Wow! I know that I absolutely love my God more than anything else. So my goal is, of course, to keep His commands, the commands that we see in Scripture and hear through prayer and can walk in and obey.

Number Five: Sacrifice

A lot of the time, surrender involves some sacrifice. This can be letting go of some of our personal comforts, maybe some of our personal desires. It might mean letting go of worldly things or laying down idolatries we are called to lay down. It could be sacrificing finances to tithe.

Romans 12:1-2 says Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Our whole life is to be a sacrifice to the King. And that includes treating our bodies like a holy temple. It includes following the Biblical call that we have to tithe and to give and to serve. And also to renew our mind and be in the word.

All of this is sacrifice. It is a sacrifice of our time and of our money. We have to sacrifice eating this thing or wanting that thing or having this idol in our lives. It is a true sacrifice to give up the things that our flesh wants and that is exactly the point. It is such a beautiful way that we can be surrendered.

Number Six: Prayer

Surrender is often something that we can communicate to God through our prayer life. This is where we can voice our concerns, our hopes, our plans before God and invite Him into them so that they are not just self-directed. We invite Him to direct them. It is God leading us, giving us direction, giving us guidance, and helping us through.

Surrender is not leaning on ourselves but it is the prayer, the posture, of asking for help. Philippians 4:6-7 says Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, with prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.

So through prayer and petition, we are to present every request to God and then God’s peace will drop in which is so amazing. Our hearts are guarded. I just love this verse.

And last, but not least:

Number Seven: Transformation

When we surrender, it leads to our own transformation because we are changed from the inside out. I don’t know about you but my attitude changed, my behaviors changed, the way I dressed changed, the way I treated my body changed. The way I parented, the way I showed up in my marriage, the way that I was a business owner and a leader all changed. Literally, the words coming out of my mouth were different.

I think this is such a testament to being surrendered to God and allowing Him to completely come in and sometimes uproot your life and uproot all these fleshly desires and all these beliefs you had about who He is or about what religion means etc. Your life is torn apart and rebuilt with nothing but truth and with Him at the center.

Romans 8:29 says For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son so that he might be the firstborn of many among many brothers and sisters. We were already known before we were born. And we were already predestined to be a representation of Christ, to be His hands and feet. This is already available to us and all we have to do is take the steps and walk in truth and be ok with surrender.

We Get to Trust in God and Be Taken Care Of

Galatians 2:20 says I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ gives me life. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I think we can hold on to that breath of life from Galatians. We no longer have to live flesh and ego forward, struggling and striving, controlling and untrusting. All of that can be washed away. It already has been washed away by the blood of Christ. And now Christ lives in me and He lives in you. And you get to be surrendered. You get to be trusting. You get to be taken care of.

What a beautiful gift God gives us every single day knowing we are already forgiven. Our path has already been laid before our feet. Our salvation is already secured, and we get to live this life that is truly heaven on earth. This does not mean that it is always easy, but it does mean that it is always blessed. It is always beautiful and it is always guided by the hand of God.

Surrender to God and Live a Beautiful, Peaceful Life

What an incredible promise from Him today. I pray that the steps and the verses that we went over will give you some Biblical context into surrender but most importantly, will convict you that if there is anything left to be surrendered, you go ahead and take that step. I promise you, surrendering to God’s will is going to be the most beautiful experience, the most beautiful journey of your life. To be in a place where you are completely sold out for Him and sold out for the Kingdom. And you are able to be led and live a life full of peace and joy and happiness. And you can begin to experience the overflow through the Holy Spirit.

A Prayer to Build Our Trust in God

Lord, thank you for everything you have given us. Thank you for allowing me to be the host of this show and give these nuggets and this guidance in business and in Biblical truth. I pray that you continue to work through me and continue to help me be as honest and as steadfast in the word as I possibly can be. Allow me to be your hands and feet and allow me to love as Jesus loved.

I pray that you bring people to this place of partnership in their business and in their faith journey. To know that you are in control of everything and that everything is already yours so that we will begin to surrender. We will truly step into complete trust over the entire process knowing that you are in control. You have got it taken care of. You love us and you are leading us and that is all we need to hold on to today. And every single day.

I pray protection over our families, all of our children, all of our businesses, our finances, our marriages, that everything would be held together and held holy in your mighty name. We trust and believe in what you are doing. We trust and believe that you have marked us and kept us safe. And we ask that you would allow us to be a beacon of light for those that are searching and seeking, that we would be the salt and you could help us plant seeds so that we can save as many souls before we go.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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