TAKE TIME TO SURRENDER
Each day calls for a fresh surrender of our hearts to Christ. The heart must learn again and again to turn from the noise and meet with the Lord. The world rushes, but the Spirit whispers. We cannot walk in peace until we pause long enough to listen. Even Jesus withdrew from the crowds to pray. He chose the lonely places where His heart could breathe in the Father’s will (Luke 5:16). He did not draw strength from applause but from communion. His power came from His prayer life. When the night was darkest or the demand was greatest, He retreated to the mountains or the garden to be alone with His Father (Mark 1:35; Matthew 14:23). Let us not miss the lesson there.
There, in the quiet, the soul is fed with heavenly bread. For man does not live by earthly provision alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4). The world will feed the flesh, but only the Word feeds the spirit. When we open the Scriptures with a heart that is yielded and still, the Spirit breathes life into the words. They stop being ink and paper and become food and fire within us (Jeremiah 15:16).
Holiness is not born in crowds. It is born in hidden places. The sanctified life begins when we kneel before God and whisper again, “Not my will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Every day we are faced with a thousand little choices—the choice to serve self or to yield to Him. Taking time to be holy is not about perfection but direction. It means setting apart time for Him, laying down our hurry so His peace can settle over our hearts like morning dew (Isaiah 26:3).
In a world that celebrates busyness, surrender looks like weakness. Yet in the kingdom of God, surrender is strength. The branch that bends in the storm is not broken. It is the one that stands stiff that snaps. So it is with the soul that refuses to yield. When we bow before the Lord in humility, He lifts us up in His strength (James 4:10). The surrendered heart is not empty. It is filled with His presence.
We often say we have no time to pray, but the truth is we have no peace because we do not pray. The day that begins in God’s presence ends in His strength. When the heart is quiet before Him, anxiety loses its grip. Prayer does not always change our situation, but it always changes us. Moses went up the mountain burdened, but he came down radiant (Exodus 34:29). The presence of God left a mark that no man could erase.
To take time to surrender is to live deliberately. It means we step away from the world long enough to see it from heaven’s view. Elijah found God not in the wind or fire but in the still, small voice (1 Kings 19:11–12). That same voice still speaks, but we must silence the noise to hear it.
We have Christ, yet we also pursue Christ. The treasure is already ours, but our hearts still long to know Him more (Philippians 3:8–10). Love never says, “Enough.” The moment we stop pursuing, our love grows stale. The Christian life is not a single decision but a daily devotion. Every sunrise is a new call to follow Him again.
Jesus is the pearl of great price, worth selling all to gain (Matthew 13:45–46). The world offers a thousand imitations, but none can satisfy. The one who has truly seen His beauty counts everything else as loss. In Him we live and move and have our being, for He is our life and our reason for living (Acts 17:28; Colossians 3:4).
David understood this when he prayed, “Whom have I in heaven but You, and on earth I desire none beside You” (Psalm 73:25). The more we walk with Him, the more this world loses its glitter. The pleasures that once drew us fade in the light of His glory. Like a candle before the sunrise, they disappear. The more we behold His face, the more our hearts are captured by His beauty (2 Corinthians 4:6).
To surrender is not to lose life but to find it. Jesus said that whoever loses his life for His sake will find it (Matthew 16:25). The world calls that foolishness, but heaven calls it wisdom. The surrendered life is the only truly free life, for it is anchored not in circumstance but in Christ.
We cannot live in His fullness without first kneeling in His presence. The altar of surrender is not a one-time event but a daily invitation. Every morning we rise, we must choose again whom we will serve (Joshua 24:15). Every night we rest, we can lay our hearts down in peace, knowing we are held by the One who never sleeps (Psalm 4:8).
When the heart is yielded, even the smallest act becomes worship. Washing dishes, driving to work, caring for others—all can become holy when done in His name. The surrendered life does not belong to the preacher alone but to every believer who desires to walk in step with Jesus.
The secret to peace is not found in control but in trust. When we stop fighting for our own way and start resting in His, the soul finds quiet waters (Psalm 23:2). The shepherd still leads, the sheep still follow. The way of surrender is the way home.
So today, take time to surrender. Step away from the noise. Lay down the weight. Open the Word. Let His voice be the first you hear and His will be the path you walk. His presence will renew your strength, and His peace will steady your heart. And as you yield yourself afresh to Him, you will find that surrender is not the end of your journey. It is the beginning of life abundant (John 10:10).
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
