I'm nearly finished reading John Eldredge's book, The Journey of Desire. In it, he expresses far more eloquently than I can the thoughts and feelings I've experienced lately in my surrendering certain desires over to God. This passage that I read today fits right in with my post from earlier in the week on giving up a particular desire to Him:
"Spiritual surrender is not resignation. It is not choosing to care no longer. Nor is it Eastern mysticism, an attempt to get beyond the suffering of this life by going completely numb. As my dear friend Jan describes, 'It is surrender with desire, or in desire.' Desire is still present, felt, welcomed even. But the will to secure is made subject to the divine will in an act of abandonment...
"True surrender is not an easy out, calling it quits early in the game. This kind of surrender comes only after the night of wrestling. It comes only after we open our hearts to care deeply. Then we choose to surrender, or give over, our deepest desires to God. And with them we give over our hearts, our deepest selves. The freedom and beauty and rest that follow are among the greatest of all surprises." (The Journey of Desire, pgs. 193 & 194)
Early To Rise
7 hours ago
2 comments:
surrender is such a hard word....defeating pride is an ongoing fight in my life...when it rears its ugly head surrender becomes impossible.
Ditto for me on that, Donna--I think the battle against pride will be a lifelong one for me. And surrender is indeed one of the hardest things to do.
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