Could you please explain the concept of surrender as it applies to "letting go and letting God"? I hear this over and over, but I'm not sure that I know how to do this. Thank you very much! -- Talicia Scriven

I'm not sure I really know how to surrender either, even though I have read excellent books on the concept. If you haven't read Gordon Ferguson's The Victory of Surrender (Woburn, Mass.: DPI, 1995), you really should get hold of this helpful volume.

I think the concept of surrender means not getting in the way of the Lord by trying to do things our way. The flesh (which in the Bible usually refers to human striving and self-reliance) is in opposition to the Spirit. So the first step might be to simply realize that there is a struggle between flesh and spirit. Left to our own devices, we will most certainly not "let go and let God." We will take control and try to do it our way.

The next step is to strive to renew our minds -- the way we think (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18). That happens when we walk with the Lord. Are you reading and praying and aiming to be conscious of God throughout the day? Does your soul thrill in the worship of God? Are the spiritual disciplines part of your life? But even with excellent "disciplines," if we're not moving forward, are we really in step with the Spirit? An active Christian life is indispensable. Not because it saves us. But because it is the Lord who wills and acts through us according to his good purpose (Philippians 2:13).

To "let God" do what he does best, we must not be too self-conscious. Being overly aware of ourselves -- over-analyzing, oversensitive, hypercritical, riddled with anxiety -- hobbles active faith. At best, it renders it arthritic. We can still walk forward, though only with considerable discomfort and awkwardness.

Summing up, here are my practical suggestions:
* Realize that there is a struggle between flesh and Spirit -- and that left to ourselves we tend not to walk in faith. We try to manage everything, take control, and do it our way.
* Renew our thinking through the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, reading, meditating on the word, worship, and so forth.
* Act in faith. Do something!
* Don't take yourself too seriously. Dispense with "the paralysis of analysis."

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