Lost, alone, helpless, restless... All of these are emotions/feelings that we humans shy away from and avoid like the plague. No one is unaware of what these are or what they feel like, for we all have been subject to them. I am no different and thus I must admit that I have felt all of these myself, some of them recently.
It is a part of our nature to survive, yes, even to conquer, those things that take away from our periods of ease, satisfaction, comfort, and contentment. The above listed emotions are no exception. If we feel lost, we search for a means of feeling found (i.e. a purpose in life or a reason to live, however you want to put it). If we feel alone, we seek someone who will want us. If we feel helpless, we find help. If we feel restless, we find a means of resting, even if that means going on an adventure first.
Surrender tends to be the very last thing on our list of priorities. If we come upon a challenge in our journey of life, the last thing we plan to do in response is surrender. As a member of the military, I have been taught to never surrender, save only as a last resort and when no other option is available to me. We are not built to surrender, we have no form of instinct that tells us to do so, I dare say that it is even a foreign concept to many people (at least so far as a personal surrender is concerned).
What is surrender? In my opinion, it is not admitting that you have lost, and it is certainly not a form of apathy. It is actually quite the opposite of apathy, for surrendering is a submissive act where we put ourselves below another person or thing. We tend to surrender only when we have exhausted every other means of surviving something, but yet care too much about our lives or our present situation to give up and die (or face some other form of permanent loss). It is indicating that you are willing to give up something valuable for something else of greater value.
As a Christian, I find it necessary to completely surrender everything I am and have for the sake of something greater and indeed to keep that which I have surrendered. If I don't give it up, I am told that I will lose it. The nice thing about this is that it's safe (I get it all back or something better instead, right?) and it teaches us the concept of surrender in a way that does not cost us anything but rather in most cases you come out ahead of where you were before!
So then, what happens if you are in possession of one or more of the originally mentioned emotions? If I surrender them, will I get them back? At this point I pause, for I began this post without any real direction (perhaps as a final attempt at conquering my present emotions before surrendering?) and suddenly I'm hit by the weight of that question. As I continue to think about it however, I find that the answer to my question is: yes!
As much as we may cringe before these emotions and wish them away faster than they appeared, I doubt that anyone would deny their usefulness in life. It is through the trials presented by these emotions that we grow and mature as sentient beings. Thus we see that these are valuable emotions, however uncomfortable and even painful they may be. Yet if I am lost, is it not rewarding to be found again? If I am alone, does it not encourage me then to find fellowship? If I feel helpless, does that not drive me to find the help that I obviously need? And if I feel restless, then I probably need an adventure to get my life moving again.
So, what happens if I surrender my feeling of being lost, lonely, helpless, restlessness, or any combination of the four? I think it means that I stop trying. I stop trying to find my own way. I stop trying to make the right person fit or work out. I stop trying to do it myself and allow the help I need to come. Even though I know that it can be difficult, I allow God to put me on an adventure that I may not like till it's all over (I might enjoy it too, but the risk of something unpleasant remains).
One might then ask, what about getting it back? Well, I think it means that you will indeed eventually get those same feelings back again, but this time even greater. Fortunately, if the emotion is greater, so is that which you are needing in order to satisfy that emotion. It's something bigger that you are needing, something that will be of greater value to you once achieved than the one before it.
We all know that if you do well in the small things, you will be given bigger things. I think that refers to more than just privileges and responsibilities. Thus, I will surrender these emotions To God, so that not only do I give Him the chance to fulfill them as He see fit (and as is best for me), but then He can make me need and desire bigger things.
It is a part of our nature to survive, yes, even to conquer, those things that take away from our periods of ease, satisfaction, comfort, and contentment. The above listed emotions are no exception. If we feel lost, we search for a means of feeling found (i.e. a purpose in life or a reason to live, however you want to put it). If we feel alone, we seek someone who will want us. If we feel helpless, we find help. If we feel restless, we find a means of resting, even if that means going on an adventure first.
Surrender tends to be the very last thing on our list of priorities. If we come upon a challenge in our journey of life, the last thing we plan to do in response is surrender. As a member of the military, I have been taught to never surrender, save only as a last resort and when no other option is available to me. We are not built to surrender, we have no form of instinct that tells us to do so, I dare say that it is even a foreign concept to many people (at least so far as a personal surrender is concerned).
What is surrender? In my opinion, it is not admitting that you have lost, and it is certainly not a form of apathy. It is actually quite the opposite of apathy, for surrendering is a submissive act where we put ourselves below another person or thing. We tend to surrender only when we have exhausted every other means of surviving something, but yet care too much about our lives or our present situation to give up and die (or face some other form of permanent loss). It is indicating that you are willing to give up something valuable for something else of greater value.
As a Christian, I find it necessary to completely surrender everything I am and have for the sake of something greater and indeed to keep that which I have surrendered. If I don't give it up, I am told that I will lose it. The nice thing about this is that it's safe (I get it all back or something better instead, right?) and it teaches us the concept of surrender in a way that does not cost us anything but rather in most cases you come out ahead of where you were before!
So then, what happens if you are in possession of one or more of the originally mentioned emotions? If I surrender them, will I get them back? At this point I pause, for I began this post without any real direction (perhaps as a final attempt at conquering my present emotions before surrendering?) and suddenly I'm hit by the weight of that question. As I continue to think about it however, I find that the answer to my question is: yes!
As much as we may cringe before these emotions and wish them away faster than they appeared, I doubt that anyone would deny their usefulness in life. It is through the trials presented by these emotions that we grow and mature as sentient beings. Thus we see that these are valuable emotions, however uncomfortable and even painful they may be. Yet if I am lost, is it not rewarding to be found again? If I am alone, does it not encourage me then to find fellowship? If I feel helpless, does that not drive me to find the help that I obviously need? And if I feel restless, then I probably need an adventure to get my life moving again.
So, what happens if I surrender my feeling of being lost, lonely, helpless, restlessness, or any combination of the four? I think it means that I stop trying. I stop trying to find my own way. I stop trying to make the right person fit or work out. I stop trying to do it myself and allow the help I need to come. Even though I know that it can be difficult, I allow God to put me on an adventure that I may not like till it's all over (I might enjoy it too, but the risk of something unpleasant remains).
One might then ask, what about getting it back? Well, I think it means that you will indeed eventually get those same feelings back again, but this time even greater. Fortunately, if the emotion is greater, so is that which you are needing in order to satisfy that emotion. It's something bigger that you are needing, something that will be of greater value to you once achieved than the one before it.
We all know that if you do well in the small things, you will be given bigger things. I think that refers to more than just privileges and responsibilities. Thus, I will surrender these emotions To God, so that not only do I give Him the chance to fulfill them as He see fit (and as is best for me), but then He can make me need and desire bigger things.