Written by: Madison Wilcox
I gave up on surrender a long time ago. The concept has always been vague to me, mostly because I don’t like it. It takes me back to my childhood, back to days when my mom would tell me to clean the cobwebs off the front porch, and I’d sulk for an hour before giving in. It takes me back to my teenage years, years where I resisted and resisted until it hurt too much to keep going. In all honesty, it takes me back to the present.
This week, I despaired again over surrender. Could I ever do it? Had I ever really done it before? Could I ever do it again? Then I found Psalm 32. The psalm taught me something new: surrender is a place to live in. There is a door to surrender, a room and a Teacher.
Let’s walk through the psalm. We begin at the door in verse 5. David says, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
This verse describes repentance — the single entrance point to the house of surrender. Somehow honesty about sin leads to acceptance rather than rejection. The door turns on its hinges the moment we knock.
The door opens into a room. Verse 7 says, “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.”
Surrender is not a dangerous venture; it is a place where the fearful can go to hide. Trouble can’t invade. A choir sings deliverance over those who enter. Best of all, the One who opened the door lives there. We meet Him in the next verse, and there, He speaks directly to us:
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding.” (Psalm 32:8-9, NKJV)
The One who welcomes the needy is confident in His ability to teach. He promises to not lose sight of His students. He knows we can be like silly beasts, but He teaches on. He reminds us that we have a mind capable of choosing obedience. He will teach, and we will learn.
I found I could pray this psalm as an act of surrender. Whenever my spirit rises up against God and insists on its own way, I pray myself through the door, into the room, and toward my Teacher. I repent: my sin runs deep, but when I acknowledge it, the door opens. I take refuge: I cry in this room. I also remember whose house I am in. The choir sings. Then I listen to the voice of the Teacher: What is He teaching me to do? Who is He teaching me to be?
I’ve found peace in this place, and want to extend the invitation to you. Are you guilty? Run to the door called repentance. Are you scared? Hide in the room called safety. Are you lost? Sit with the wise Teacher and learn to obey. This is the essence of surrender, and it’s a house you never have to leave.
