Healing in Surrender

We have experienced a very difficult couple of years. I don’t know anyone that hasn’t been met with trials or opposition over the past two years. It has left us feeling isolated, exhausted, misunderstood, afraid, hurt and for many even depressed or hopeless. I continue to hear from others and to see many social media posts that reveal the struggling that people are still facing. A common theme through these struggles is that they have been hurt by other people. They have given of themselves and not received back in return. I think we can all agree that when we are giving of ourselves but not being poured back into, our well of love and care will run dry and we will be left feeling empty and having little or nothing to offer anyone else. That leaves us feeling helpless and inadequate. It’s a vicious cycle. I cannot emphasize enough though, the importance of not relying on other people to fulfill the needs of your heart. All people are imperfect. We are broken and flawed. Our intentions may be good, but we often fall short of expectations.

In a great relationship, both parties will put the needs of the other person first. For example, if I put my spouse’s needs before my own and he is putting my needs before his own, we will have a wonderful cycle of love and understanding and both of us will feel fulfilled. This is how it should be in any type of relationship. The problem is, we are selfish. Even if we don’t try or want to be, many of us at some point or another put ourselves first. Then the cycle has a wrench in it and is thrown off balance. I’m not saying we shouldn’t care about our own needs or take care of ourselves, but I am saying that when we become more important, or even when we become the victim of some form of hurt or disappointment, we are putting ourselves in a position where we begin to remove some accountability. We begin to place blame on other people for our problems. They haven’t met up to our expectations. They have let us down and now we are here feeling broken, feeling empty, feeling alone and they don’t even seem to care or notice. What about them though? Could it be that they have also been hurt by people, that they’re also running on empty? You see, we are all flawed and we are all facing struggles of one kind or another. Do not think that your pain is greater than or less than that of another. We do not know the struggles of others. We may know bits and pieces, or we may think that we know, but we never know every single thought or feeling of another or every trial that they have faced.

Healing from hurts caused by others, begins by realizing that they are not going to be able to fix it and that you are not going to be able to fix it. Healing begins at surrender. By surrender, I mean, by turning it all over to God, by giving your problems and worries over to God and relying on Him alone to mend what is broken. The only One that can fix the broken is Jesus. Luke 19:10 says “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost”. Jesus is perfect where we are not. He will not leave you or forsake you, where people may fail. He loves you unconditionally and His love is perfect, it is not of this world. He has the power to heal you and to make you whole again. In the song Defender (Bethel Music) they sing, “When I thought I lost me, You knew where I left me, You reintroduced me to Your love. You picked up all my pieces, put me back together, You are the defender of my heart”. Let Christ do this for you. Let Him defend your heart. Psalms 118:14 says “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation”. Let the Lord be your strength and your defense. Look to Him for truth, for healing and for love. When you look to God for the love that you desire, you will find it fulfilled. He can use people to love you as well and you will find that when others are close to God and love God first, they will love you better as well, because they are learning from the best. I pray you open your mind and heart to God, to His word and to the great love that He wants to lavish on you. Amen.