Different Levels of Surrendering to God: How to live your best life

What am I Lacking?

I have been in church for a long time. All of my life, honestly. I grew up surrounded by prayer, bible study, Friday night service, choir rehearsal, youth services, Saturday night service, Sunday School, Sunday Morning Service, Sunday Afternoon service, Church Outings, Church Picnics… I could go on. While I am grateful for my upbringing in the church because I have experienced and learned so much over the years, I now often ponder what was missing? What am I lacking? What was perhaps the church lacking? It took me a while to realize that there were different levels of surrendering to God.

Struggling to Surrender to God

As a young adult, entering into motherhood and being a wife and just in general becoming an adult, I was struggling; like really struggling. I was trying to find my way as responsibility was mounting. Thank God for a praying mother! I knew that as a child, God’s favor was on me because I had a mother who prayed and did her best to set a good example of a follower of Christ.

Once I moved out of her house and was starting my own family, things got real. I could feel myself slipping away as all of these other responsibilities and pressures started taking precedence in my life. While I know my mother of course continued to pray for me I felt as if I was no longer under her anointed covering. I was no longer a child; and now had my own children. I had to find my own way.

Misunderstood Understandings

Now, as I stated before, I had grown up in the church. I became a believer of Christ at a young age and I had gotten baptised as a teenager. The bible was as a resource I knew I could use, and I knew that prayer could help me get through challenges. I did not know how hard the devil can come for you and how easily you could become so lost not doing those things on a regular basis. I also did not realize all of the “misunderstood understandings” I have adopted along the way. “Misunderstood understandings” are dangerous! I am glad that I have had enough experience with God myself, that I was able to let go of some of the things that I learned in church, that I believed was true.

Depression I didn’t recognize

During this time that I was struggling, I wasn’t attending church regularly. I was looking for a new church home, but was also working full time as a teacher and in school full time earning my Master’s degree, while also being a mother of two young children and a wife of a firefighter and trying to juggle and navigate through all of these roles as I was also fighting against anxiety and depression. A depression I didn’t know I had for a number of years because I didn’t recognize it.

I knew something was wrong but didn’t have a name to put to it. The impression that if you are saved (a believer of Jesus Christ) you couldn’t get depressed had seeped into my subconscious. I have heard many times saved people can’t be depressed. If you are saved and follow Christ then you’re all good! And if you aren’t that means you are not really saved.

Believers struggle too

Let me tell you, if no one else tells you, being a believer of Christ does not exempt you from anything! Believers are struggling or have struggled just like you and I. There is a difference between actually trusting and believing God and pretending that everything is ok. Everything is not ok all of the time! “Church People” have a bad habit of pretending and playing church; when there are real people struggling with real problems who need real people to be real with them. I thought at the time, I just need to pray the depression away and I’ll be fine. I was not fine.

Different Levels to Surrendering to God

The whole point of all of that is to say that now 5 years later I have come to a realization, there are different levels to surrendering to God. I always thought that I had surrendered; but not to the level that was required of me to get all that God has for me and live my best life. I think that we confuse becoming a believer with surrendering and we sometimes confuse “acting like a Christian” as surrendering. I had not yet surrendered my entire life until I got to a breaking point. The words, “I surrender my life to you” came out of my mouth before because it’s a nice thing to say or someone said to say it. I thought I meant it at the time but didn’t realize the magnitude of that statement.

I was surrendering my life on my own terms. Once I truly surrendered my entire life, I could immediately feel a shift in me and over time continue to see shifts in every other area.

Level One: Surrendering your Heart to God

First, when you accept Jesus as your Savior, you are surrendering your heart. You are allowing and acknowledging that there is a God, and you believe that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for your sins. This is the first basic level of surrendering. Your heart is open to invite him in. You are willing to take a chance on Faith and learning more about developing your relationship with God.

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Romans 10:10 NLT

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

James 1:21 NLT

Level Two: Surrendering your Spirit

Next, is allowing the holy spirit to live inside of you. You have to surrender your spirit to the holy spirit. You are essentially saying, I know that everything that is naturally in me is prone to sin. God’s spirit needs to live inside of me and take over as my spirit. The Holy spirit is needed to teach me how to live as a new creation in this sinful world. I need to be connected to the Father. I need the power and presence of God in me and surrounding me on a daily basis.

As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts of the Apostles 8:15-17

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

Galatians 5:24 NLT

Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 5:19

Level Three: Surrendering your entire self to God to live your best life

Lastly, your entire life. Maybe I wasn’t at Church that one Sunday; when they explained what it actually truly meant to surrender your entire life to Jesus Christ. I just thought to myself try not to sin or if I did sin just ask for forgiveness. I was literally crying out to God that I needed him to take control of my entire life; that I then realized what it really meant to surrender EVERYTHING! All I knew is what I was doing was not working. I was not living my best life. Every area of my life was suffering. Even though it appeared successful, no matter what I did I was miserable, constantly.

It was in this moment that I honestly prayed, “God if I have to leave my job. If I have to leave my marriage. If I have to be homeless on the street. I don’t care I just want you.” I let go of trying to control my life and asked God to take over. I was giving God permission to align me to his will even if it meant disrupting or losing everything.

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

Matthew 16:25

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Galatians 5:16 NLT

Surrendered to God

This is my experience with surrender. I have to say that surrender is not an easy thing. We want to do it; but we also crave control. We want God to move in our lives but can we give up what it takes for that to happen? If you do you will experience healing and freedom in ways that you have probably not considered.

But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

John 15:7 NLT

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life– whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more that food, and your body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:25 NLT

Fully surrender to God and experience your best life! Can you relate? What level do you feel you are on? Comment below!