The Level of Surrender
♥ 9 MIN READ-
What does your next level require? This is the question burning in my brain right now. On one hand, it terrifies me. There have been so many times in the past that I thought I knew what was required, but an unexpected cost always came that I didn’t account for.
Still another part of me is always concerned that the result won’t be worth it. That I will look back and regret my sacrifice. These concerns about the unknown cause me to hesitate, and I have to be reminded that as I’m counting the imagined costs, I have to balance the scales. God’s track record outweighs every concern.
In my process, I always have to get to the place of trust before I can get to the level of surrender. There’s no other sustaining path to success. My goal now is to just get there faster.
What I See Clearly
My level of surrender reflects my level of success.
We all know that valuable things cost something and the next level is no different. Some seasons have required me to give up things I thought I wanted but truly didn’t need (*cough, cough* It was sometimes a habit but usually a guy). And other times I had to let go of something I knew I needed so God could repurpose and reconfigure it into what it needed to be so I could be more effective. Although all goodbyes aren’t forever, it doesn’t mean they still don’t hurt.
Successful Surrender
I am learning that sustained success can’t be had without surrender. In the past, I thought hard work and logic would get me there. I relied on my mind to strategize a pathway to success but it was never enough to both get me there and keep me there. I thought if I could calculate every step it would maximize success but in the end my need to control catalyzed failure. Your next level requires surrender. It’s impossible to achieve your life’s purpose without it.
We all know that surrendering to God is essential, but that is an overarching goal that is compromised of many situation-specific acts. At times it’s hard to see how surrendering some things in our journey is beneficial to the plan God has for our life, but when we look from heaven’s viewpoint it all makes sense. Sometimes what I’ve had to surrender has surprised me, but looking back I can see how it was connected to my success. At other times the connection has been a mystery. I guess those instances required a new level of faith.
Purposeful Side Note
One thing that leaves people lost and aimless in this world is a lack of clarity concerning their purpose. Life without vision and strategy can be a struggle. Many who want a purpose but haven’t found it attempt to create their own, but when you don’t know your purpose you’ll mistake searching for it with chasing significance -> Hopeless ambition. Desperate hustle. Purposeless grinding. You collect titles trying to find your place. You’re productive but not satisfied. Nothing quenches the desire that there’s more.
The truth is you will always feel the void when you haven’t found your purpose. Purpose is irreplaceable.
If any part of this is you- relax. Breath. Purpose can’t be found by force, only by surrender. I’ve heard lots of advice about finding your purpose and I agree with most of it -> Follow your passion. Study your gifts. Answer the question: What could you do for the rest of your life if you didn’t have to worry about money?
It all helps, but let me add my piece. Your desires and passions may lead you to purpose but surrender clarifies it.
I have always known what I was good at and what I enjoyed doing, but it wasn’t until I went to God determined that I would accept whatever will He had for my life that it all finally made sense. Surrender changed my perspective and helped me see not only what my purpose was, but also how I was meant to achieve it. It didn’t all come at once but as I continue to surrender, the puzzle pieces are falling into place.
What I See Clearly
Purpose doesn’t easily come to a person with a divided heart. It’s best given in the atmosphere of surrender otherwise you’re prone to ignore or reject it. Surrender helps you to see what’s always been there.
Purpose in your heart to surrender and relax. By doing this you create the atmosphere to receive the vision and strategy to achieve your purpose. But keep that same energy, surrendering to receive your purpose is just the first surrender.
Leveling Up
The next level, regardless of what it is, is never foreign to you. It’s not a complete mystery, you just may not have noticed all the clues hidden in your journey. Reread your story. There are hints there. Even if your next level is more than you thought was possible it doesn’t mean it’s a fairytale; it’s a supernatural love story and you’ve got to play your part. Believe. Have faith. Surrender to a destiny that’s far more than you could ever come up with.
To me, this is the surrender all other surrenders are built on. To sacrifice for my purpose I first had to believe that it was truly what I was meant to do because I won’t sacrifice for something I’m not convinced is my destiny. I have to want it. I have to know that it’s for me because doubt will make me hesitate. Doubt will make me self-sabotage. Doubt breeds fear and fear breeds withholding.
Know The Rules
Before you can play the game you have to surrender to your purpose. You have to decide that this is what you’ll commit your life to achieve. To collect the $200 you have to pass go (Monopoly reference. I must be feeling nostalgic). There’s no moving forward without it.
Time, focus, my will <- these are things I knew I would have to surrender but below are a few things my journey has required that I didn’t expect.
Strip Baby Strip
Your next level has a way of stripping you of your false identities. Every new level I’ve ever experienced has required a shedding process. Sometimes it was painful, but only when I refused to let go of who I never was. False identities can be comfortable and deceptively convenient. Some don’t challenge you, and some don’t seem like a challenge because you convince yourself the false identity is worth it. Oh, but the cost of them is high.
The main cost is underdevelopment. We have waisted time gaining experience being someone who will never exist at our next level and who we’ll have to abandon if we ever want to grow. That cost alone is too high.
Don’t Play With Animals
Someone once prophesied to me that before the promise came I needed to be careful of the “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.” Before this experience, I painted the Wolf as an evil deceptor out of a fairytale, but in actuality, it wasn’t. The Wolf can be a person, an idea, an opportunity- it takes different forms but it has similar characteristics that will help you identify it. It’s close but not quite. Close enough to the promise but not exactly it. Close enough that it will tempt you to settle just so you’ll have something now.
What I See Clearly
The danger of the Wolf isn’t what it does, it’s what it makes you think.
It tempts you to compromise but in reality, it’s trying to convince you to sabotage your destiny. Now, the Wolf may not be intentionally trying to deceive you but its presence can be used for deception. The only way to overcome the Wolf is to know the promise and to remember it. You have to study it so thoroughly that you can recognize the counterfeit when it arrives.
Go With What You Know
You have to surrender your stagnation to walk through the open door. Now, this seems easy, but it’s not always so straight forward. Open doors don’t always look so inviting, and moving forward isn’t always comfortable.
You don’t always get to have all of the information before you move (I hate that). There’s not always time to weigh the pros and cons or to get clarity before you move forward. People always tell me to follow after peace when it comes to making decisions, and I believe that advice is sound, but I’ve found it more effective for me to instead question my anxiety. Honestly, when a big decision (and sometimes a small one) is on the line it can be tough for me to find peace in the midst of my overthinking and hyper-analyzing. I know as I grow in trust and faith this will change, but in the meantime when peace is not easily found on either side I instead question why I’m anxious.
Typically when I’m between deciding to do or not to do, I’m anxious not because I don’t know what’s right, but because part of me knows but doesn’t want to do it. My anxiety isn’t around the decision. It’s around the surrender. That realization always causes me to stop resisting what I know is right. It’s always an indication that it’s time to address what’s causing me to hesitate so I can move forward. It tells me I’m holding too tight to Egypt. The Promised Land is waiting, but I’ve got to purge the desire for Egypt from my heart.
Stretching
Have you ever seen someone stretching to reach something they’re convinced they can grab? Whatever’s required, they contort their body into uncomfortable positions, stretching their muscles to the limit. They are willing to sacrifice themselves to reach it but look at their body while their stretching. They are completely defenseless.
Stretching requires extending yourself and becoming vulnerable. You can not stretch and crave comfort. You cannot stretch and cover flaws. You are exposed. You cannot stretch and protect yourself. Some levels require dropping all of your defense mechanisms and trusting that God is the only protection you need. It’s terrifying. The truth is many of our defense mechanisms never really had the power to protect us. They just pacified us and siphoned part of our energy and focus.
Some levels will require all of us. All the energy, focus, and effort we put into other areas will have to be repossessed and diverted to get us to and sustain us at the next level. Some levels require surrendering everything.
Thinking of a Master Plan
There comes a point where I have to truly surrender the plan to God. Often to convince myself to move forward I try to picture the next level God is taking me to -> How will I feel? What will life be like? I create a story to fall in love with. I picture life to make it real. It’s a part of my acceptance process, but I inevitably add elements that are not meant to be.
Typically God will let my story exist unconfronted for a time, but I always reach the point where it has to be surrendered. See, God will allow my fantasy to live as long as it’s moving me forward, but there comes a point when it shifts from helping to holding me back. That’s when He confronts it and surrender is required.
A Message to You
Allow God to reconfigure your story. Only then can your fantasy become reality. When God confronts your story, don’t grieve. You didn’t lose anything. The fantasy served its purpose. You just didn’t need it anymore. You grew past it.
Don’t be so tied to your version of your destiny that you never reach your next level. Surrender the timing, the control, the order of events, the environment. Every element must be freely given so it is available for God to use. Don’t hold too tightly to any who, what, when, where, or how.
The funny thing about surrender is that once you do it, you realize you never truly wanted what you were holding onto. You wanted the idea of it, but it would have never produced what you desired. We hold on because we’re scared that if we let go we’ll be let down, but surrender shows us that our perception of desire and disappointment is often misplaced. Sometimes surrender makes us feel like we’ll never get what we want, but the truth is surrender purifies our desires and prevents disappointment.
A Necessary Cost
The blessing of surrender is confidence and clarity. When you surrender your next level to God and then receive what you wanted, it comes back with the surety that it’s yours. So when you level up and doubt and challenges come, you can be clear about who you are and why you’re there. You know the truth, so lies can’t sway you. Surrender is the cost of sustained success.
What I See Clearly
Your surrender has a cost but the cost is an investment.
The saddest thing in life it witnessing someone coming to the end of their time with the realization that they sacrificed everything, but gained nothing. Life requires surrender, but we’ll only be repaid for the things surrendered for purpose. It’s heart-wrenching to realize you surrendered things that were never required and ended up purpose-deficient. Understand what’s required and invest wisely. Your destiny depends on it.
«Consider This»
- What surrender do you think is required for your next level?
- Have you truly surrendered to your purpose? Do you need to surrender to discover it?
- Have you made peace with the cost of your last level?
Let’s have a conversation about this. Share your thoughts below.
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