“O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord, or My anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.” (Jeremiah 4:4 NLT)
Surrendering is a very hard concept for most of us.
War is costly and there are always casualties, but implicit in battle is a cause. As a rule, we don’t fight unless we have something for which to fight, and while not all of us have fought literal battles in the military, we all face daily battles with the enemy of our soul.
As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, He has instilled in us values for which we’re willing to die, certainly for which we should be willing to do battle with Satan to maintain. Values like integrity, respect, compassion, purity, decency, faithfulness, genuineness and others that set us apart as children of God. Satan daily battles us to compromise our values as a believer and the only way to not surrender to Satan is to surrender first to the Lord.
What might that look like? Every day I sit before the Lord with open hands, and I say to Him some version of: “Lord, this is my life, take whatever is unlike you, anything that I don’t need, or anything that prevents me from being everything you died to enable me to be. And give me whatever I need to stand strong in my battle against Satan and that will allow me to grow in my likeness of You. In Jesus’ Name.”
Defeat and/or surrender IS the outcome of every battle. It will be determined by us or our enemy, so, why not be proactive and surrender to the Lord before we’re forced to surrender to Satan. And I can anticipate the pushback: “Satan can’t force me to do anything!” And technically that’s true, but when his evil thoughts become uncontrollable in our own strength and we yield to temptation, he wins.
Surrendering to the Lord is the logical step for anyone who longs to be more like Jesus and live pleasingly before Him. I love how Ray Majoran expresses it in his beautiful prayer: “Teach us what trust looks like in the real world — not the kind built on certainty, but the kind born from surrender. Help us to rest in You when our plans fall apart, and to believe that Your strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we are weary of standing, may we lean into Your promises, and when we can no longer move forward, help us to know that You are enough.”(See Trust at the Edge – 11-10-25)
Surrender to the Lord is born out of love and devotion, not fear. We surrender because we learn to trust His judgment more than we trust our own. We know that no good thing comes from continually being defeated by the enemy of our soul, it only leads to frustration, guilt, shame and a desire to quit trying. That all comes from Satan, never from the Lord.
He’s the One rooting for us, walking with us, shouting our name, urging us on to victory. The Lord doesn’t shame us or cause us guilt; we do that to ourselves. He lifts, restores, encourages, forgives, fills, empowers, and equips us to live victoriously when we surrender to His will and ways.
The greatest strength we’ll ever possess will come as a result of our full surrender to the Lover of our soul, the Lord Jesus Christ. He had the power to surrender His life on our behalf in order that we might have the strength to stand strong for Him. Surrender is born out of trust and results in victory for us.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 