We all go through things in life where one of the first, yet hardest, response is to just “let it go”. That person offended you? Let it go. You can’t get over your ex? Let it go. You didn’t get the raise or promotion that you worked so hard for? Let it go. But when we look at scripture and what God says, it’s never just “let it go” but instead it’s “give it” or “surrender it”. Let me illustrate what I believe the differences to be between letting go and surrendering.
Imagine you’re holding on to something, like a sock, and you are told to let it go. You let it go and it drops to the ground. But that sock is still there and you can still reach down and pick it right back up. In the same way, what if you were told to give that sock to someone else. You hand it over and it’s no longer in your possession. You can’t easily retrieve it and it’s more or less out of your life for good. You still had to let go of the grip you had on the sock, but you placed it into the hands of someone who can take the burden of carrying it off of your shoulders. This is what God wants us to do.
1 Peter 5:7 says “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
Now there’s one fundamental difference between giving your burden to another person and surrendering your burden to God. Sometimes we expect that maybe if we vent about our problems to a friend then everything will be better. It’s a symbolic passing of the burden to another person. Now don’t get me wrong, talking through things can be very helpful and needed, but it is not where you are going to find healing. They may give you advice or helpful support, but the healing that needs to take place and the peace you need will never come from another person. When we give our burdens to another person or try to just let it go by ourselves, our hands are left empty, waiting to be filled with something else. Sometimes we pick the burden right back up!
But when you give your worries and anxieties to God, there’s a beautiful exchange that happens between you and Him. When you give those worries and surrender, God replaces what was in your hand with peace and love. God doesn’t leave us empty-handed. He replaces, restores, and renews with something far greater than the burden we were carrying. We see this in Philippians 4:6-7
Philippians 4:6-7 says “Don’t worry about anything, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand … “
God does not tell us to just let it go and move on. He is kind and caring. He wants to help us heal and grow from our mistakes and from the things we couldn’t control. He doesn’t call us to just let go, he calls us to give it up and surrender. Only then will the peace and healing that needs to take place flow into our hearts. Like it says in 2 Corinthians 12:7 “‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” When we surrender our weaknesses and worries, it makes us available to let the Holy Spirit fill us with Christ’s power and peace.
What burdens are you carrying that God is asking you to surrender?
Visualize the things you need to surrender, and then imagine yourself physically giving those things to Jesus. Try, when you pray, to picture Jesus’ face and hand over your worries to Him., lay them at His feet. Depend on God today for your peace, surrender your hurt and worries, and let the Holy Spirit fill you with His love.
“And this hope will not end in disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”
Romans 5:5
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