The Only Way to Victory Is to Surrender
Our Lord doesn't always take the pain away — and that just may be the gift.
What does it mean to “surrender to Christ?”
There are countless great Christian writers who articulate an answer better than I ever could. But recently, I’ve walked alongside someone learning painfully what surrender truly looks like—and that experience brought me to one way to understand it.
It may not be the best way. But it’s real enough to me.
Surrender is the trust and humble acceptance that our Lord—who desires to spend eternity with each and every one of us—knows exactly how to get us there.
And that’s something we cannot do on our own.
We are selfish. We are wretched. We are broken.
But Our Lord is wise. He knows us intimately. And because He knows us, He also knows what will bring about our salvation.
Surrender, then, is trusting that everything He allows in our lives—the good and the bad—is part of His plan to draw us deeper into conversion.
He knows when to act, where to lead, and how to shape our souls for full, eternal impact.
Maybe you didn’t get that job, even though you were the most qualified. Maybe your plans fell apart in a way that felt unfair. Maybe illness, loss, or grief has unprecedented challenge in your life. Still, He sees beyond the moment. He knows what’s needed to bring us to Him.
He operates with eternity in mind.
And the more we insist on our own plans, our own timing, our own comfort—rather than prayerfully submitting to His will—the more we reject His perfect wisdom.
Do we really think we know better than the One who designed the universe? The One who knit us together in our mothers’ wombs (Ps. 139)?
Not a chance.
Let’s not deceive ourselves. Our default is self-indulgence, comfort, and sin. Without God, even with the best intentions, we make ourselves gods—offering sacrifices at our own altars, pursuing our own justice, and chasing our own desires.
But when we participate with God—when we walk in union with His plan—He leads us through all of that. Because He knows the way.
He is the Way.
But the only way we get there is by trusting in His perfect wisdom—and surrendering to the way He wants to transform our lives.
That is what it takes to be with Him for eternity.
Don’t rush His plan for you. Don’t let your desperation to escape the pain, to “make it all better,” rob you of the very transformation He’s working in you.
In The Lord of the Rings, it wasn’t simply that Frodo destroyed the Ring. It was how he was changed along the way.
He walked 1,800 miles across Middle Earth. He was betrayed. He suffered under the weight of the Ring with each step. And that suffering made him who he needed to be.
It wasn’t the Mr. Frodo Baggins who left the Shire that saved Middle Earth—it was the one who made it to Mount Doom.
So wait. Be patient. Be attentive.
Live the life Our Lord is leading you through right now—whether it’s full of joy or sorrow. And remember this:
Days, months, years—even decades—are just a blink in the span of eternity. Trust Him. It’ll all be worth it in the end. You won’t believe who you become.