Surrender is something that gets talked about in churches. We have sermons, worship songs, and small groups about it, and I have heard it, sung it, and discussed it. But a few weeks ago, while I was planning worship sets with a group of people, my eyes were opened to a whole new aspect of surrender.

You know, maybe surrender isn’t the best word for what we mean. Well, actually it pretty accurately describes how I have traditionally understood the concept, but I am not sure it accurately conveys the biblical concept. Usually, I have understood that I have desires, habits, dreams, sins, and all that other stuff which are contrary to the desire of God in my life. So I have to surrender all my bad stuff, even though it’s stuff I want to keep. Then there’s the other stuff that’s good, but God sometimes asks you to surrender the good stuff too.

Surrender is a violent term in my head. In other words, I really want to hold onto my stuff-the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I am going to keep holding onto it until God outmaneuvers me, guilts me, or just plain beats me until I give it up. When I don’t have the strength to hold on anymore, I wave the white flag of surrender. “Fine God, you win. Just take it.” It’s probably more God taking than me surrendering.

That’s the problem. In surrender, I have focused on all the stuff I am losing. It’s painful and hard. I struggle to give up my stuff.

However, I don’t think that’s what God intended at all. God isn’t about surrender, as much as He is about exchange. God invites us to surrender so that He can give something even better. That’s the glory of surrender. When we choose to surrender, God then glorifies Himself in us, and, in glorifying Himself, He glorifies us. Keeping our stuff, choosing our own glory, is no glory at all. God invites us to surrender, and in exchange for good, bad, and ugly stuff God gives us His glory through us.

Sure, Jesus told the rich, young ruler to surrender all his stuff, but he was offering eternal life in exchange. Yes, God asked Jesus for his life, given in violent crucifixion, but it was in exchange for surpassing glory, eternal life, and life passed on to others. Ok, God asks for my sin (which I usually happen to like) in exchange for habits, patterns, and thoughts that won’t destroy me. Yeah, God asks for my dreams that would make my story grand in exchange for playing a role in his grand story.

When Jesus was struggling with surrender, he recognized that when he surrendered he would gain the glory of God, and he proclaimed, “Father, glorify Your Name.” There is life and joy in surrender, so, Father, I willingly, excitedly, and joyfully exchange my stuff for yours. Father, glorify Your Name.