Trusting God More Than Ourselves

“True surrender to God requires letting go of our own will and embracing His, trusting that His plan is better than ours. We need to trust Him more than we trust ourselves.”

Surrender is not a word we usually like. It feels like weakness, failure, or defeat. From childhood, we are taught to be strong, to stand our ground, and to fight for what we want. But the way of Jesus turns the world’s wisdom upside down. In God’s kingdom, surrender is not defeat—it’s freedom.

When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He faced the most difficult test of surrender anyone could imagine. He knew the cross was before Him, and He wrestled with the cost: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”(Matthew 26:39). In that moment, Jesus modeled what true surrender looks like—laying down His own will in order to fully embrace the Father’s.

That’s the challenge we all face. We might not be staring at a cross, but we all carry desires, plans, and preferences that we cling to tightly. We tell ourselves we trust God, but when His direction cuts across our own, do we resist or release?

Why Letting Go Feels So Hard

The truth is, we tend to trust ourselves more than God. We think we know what’s best for our future, our families, our careers, our finances. We lean on our understanding because it feels safer and more familiar. Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us otherwise: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Letting go is hard because it requires faith. It requires admitting that our perspective is limited and that God sees what we cannot. Faith asks us to believe that His plan is not only bigger than ours but also better.

What Happens When We Trust Him More

When we surrender, we discover the peace that comes from knowing we are not in control. The burden of carrying the future lifts because it is safe in God’s hands. This doesn’t mean life will be easy. Jesus’ surrender led Him to the cross. But it also led to resurrection, victory, and eternal hope.

The same is true for us. God’s plan may lead us through valleys, but He will always lead us toward life. Surrender doesn’t guarantee comfort—it guarantees His presence and His purpose. And in the end, that is far greater than anything we could arrange on our own.

Living Out Surrender Daily

Surrender is not just a one-time decision; it’s a daily posture. Here are three ways we can practice trusting God more than ourselves:

1. Pray honestly. Bring your desires, fears, and plans before God. Then echo Jesus’ words: “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
2. Obey quickly. When you sense God leading you through His Word or His Spirit, don’t delay. Obedience is where trust becomes real.
3. Release outcomes. We can do what God asks of us, but the results belong to Him. True surrender means letting Him define success.

The Invitation

Surrender is not about giving up on life; it’s about giving our lives to the One who gave His life for us. It’s about trading the illusion of control for the reality of God’s care.

The question we each need to ask is this: Do I trust God more than I trust myself?

When we can answer “yes,” not just with our lips but with our lives, we step into the freedom and peace that only surrender can bring.

The Path of Surrender

"A life of absolute surrender has its difficulties. I do not deny that. Yes, it has something for more than difficulties: it is a life that with men is absolutely impossible. But by the grace of God, by the power of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, it is a life to which we are destined, and a life that is possible for us, praise God! Let us believe that God will maintain it." 

Andrew Murray, Humility and Absolute Surrender; p. 72

Surrendering our lives to God is not easy, but it is the only way we can become the people God created us to be. Andrew Murray, a South African writer and pastor (1828-1917) taught about this theme of surrender quite often. He recognized that surrendering was not a natural thing to do, and therefore it would not be easy, but that it was an essential part of our discipleship.

In Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." 

Here Jesus taught that surrendering to God requires denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following him.

Living a life of surrender means that we hand over the control of our lives, our plans, and our desires to God. To surrender our lives means acknowledging that God knows what is best for us, even when God’s will goes against our desires. Total surrender to God requires a level of humility that is hard to achieve in a world that values self-reliance, self-promotion, and personal achievements above almost everything else.

Surrendering to God will also require us to go against the cultural expectations of society, to make choices that are unpopular, and to have morals and values that seem odd the people around us. This can lead us to face criticism, rejection, and even persecution for our faith. 

When we surrender we will also need to give up some of the activities and pleasures that we once thought were essential to our happiness because they do not align with God’s will.

Despite the challenges, living a life surrendered to God is not impossible. As we walk this path of faith, we will need to trust that God will sustain us and guide us every step of the way. 

To do this we need to stay connected to God through prayer, reading the Bible, meditating on the truth of Scripture, reorienting our lives through worship, and spending time with other Christians. What this means is that surrendering to God is a daily decision, a constant giving up of ourselves to His will.

So today, let us make the decision to take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Jesus. It is crucial for us to remember to trust in His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit as we live a life of surrender to God.

Prayer: Dear God, help us to surrender ourselves completely to You. Give us the strength to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. Help us to trust in Your grace and the power of the Holy Spirit as we walk this path of surrender. Amen.