“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
I’ve always loved the idea of surrender… until I actually had to do it. Letting go sounds holy and poetic until your hands are wrapped around something you deeply love, something you worked hard for, or something that feels like it defines you. In the real world, surrender feels more like grief than glory. But the more I walk with Jesus, the more I’m learning: surrender isn’t losing control—it’s giving control back to the One who holds everything together.
Somewhere along the way, I believed that if I just tried hard enough, managed everything well, and stayed on top of it all, I could avoid the pain of disappointment. But control is exhausting. It tricks us into thinking we’re safe, when really, we’re just carrying weights we were never meant to bear.
When anxiety crept back into my life, even after a season of peace, I remember asking God, Why again? I thought I had moved past this. And gently, I felt the Spirit say, You’ve been trusting your plans more than Mine. Oof. Conviction with kindness.
That moment became a turning point. I didn’t need to clear my schedule or “start over.” I needed to realign my heart with God’s pace. I needed to release my grip, to remember that my life is safest not in my own hands, but in His.
Surrender became the reset I didn’t know I needed. As soon as I stopped striving to control everything, I noticed the shift—anxiety lessened. My spirit calmed. I could breathe again.
Let’s be clear—surrender isn’t apathy. It’s not giving up. It’s not sitting back and doing nothing. It’s active trust. It’s showing up, offering God our best, and leaving the results to Him. It’s saying, I’ll take the next faithful step, even if I don’t see the whole staircase.
What’s one area in your life where you’re holding on tight right now? A relationship, a decision, your future, your kids, your health? What might it look like to open your hands and trust God in that place?
Friend, you’re not alone in this. We all wrestle with surrender. But take heart—God doesn’t ask you to let go so He can leave you empty. He asks you to let go so He can fill your hands with something better: peace, clarity, and grace for the path ahead.
And sometimes, the miracle isn’t in what changes—but in the peace you feel while nothing around you has changed at all.
Leave a comment below or share this with a friend who’s in a season of surrender. And if you’re looking for a deeper reset this month, check out my new free resource: “Prayers of Surrender to Start Your Day”—you can download it [here].
P.S. A Little Sneak Peek:
This post was inspired by my upcoming book, A Pace of Grace: Steadying Your Spirit When Life Feels Messy, releasing in March 2026. In it, I share more about what I call Tenacious Grace—the kind of surrender that’s lived out in daily obedience, even when it’s hard or uncertain. If you’ve enjoyed today’s encouragement, you’re going to love the deeper stories and biblical truths I unpack in the book. Consider this your early invitation to walk with me through these grace-filled rhythms.