“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” – Matthew 16:24-25 (NASB)

Is there a relationship between redemption and surrender? Recently, I have received a lot of prayers for life circumstances. Several people have told me that, while they prayed, God gave them a word for me. That word is redemption. However, while God gave them the word redemption, God gave me the word surrender. Intriguing! You know God is trying to speak when two words as powerful as redemption and surrender keep reappearing. When God repeats Himself, which doesn’t happen often, it usually means He wants you to hear what He is saying. So, what is God saying?

Redemption is the action of saving. It is synonymous with the idea of being freed; vindicated; or absolved. However, redemption also has the meaning of a returning, a revival, and a rebirth. Redemption is literally the act of being set free and made new. Surrender is the action of submission. It is equal to yielding, to conceding, or to laying down arms. Surrender is literally the act of letting go of one’s own will and desires.

In recovery, it is no mistake that, before we can begin the rigorous process of working through our struggles to become whole again, we must first face the reality we have nowhere else to go – nothing left to do. Only surrender. Surrender must come before redemption.

Surrender is the state all Christians should always be living in. As a Christian we have crucified ourselves with Christ. We claim to no longer be our own, but a vessel for God’s use. As Jesus said, “If you want to follow Me, you have to deny yourself…” Instead, as my own life gives testimony, I see Christians living in the same way as non-Christians. We strive for control over every aspect of our lives. Where is the disconnect? When we strive for control, we aren’t denying ourselves anything. Perhaps we are okay with a pseudo-faith that says I can have redemption without surrender? If that is the case, are we then also saying we are okay with a pseudo-redemption?

Surrender is hard. Surrender is the statement that I am powerless to do anything about my circumstance or situation. It is not just a statement, however. Surrender is an action of letting go or completely submitting to God’s will. In my life, I was only able to get to the place of surrender when two things happened: 1) the realization that no matter how much I tried and hoped, I couldn’t control an outcome; and 2) my desire for Christ’s redemption outweighed my desire to be in control. “For whoever loses His life for my sake will find it.”

What are the things in your life right now that you need to surrender into God’s loving care? Is it your career? Your marriage? Your diet? A friendship? An upcoming event or life happening? A trip or vacation? Your daily schedule? The family budget? An exam? God wants to give you redemption. He wants to redeem your marriage. He wants to redeem your friendships. He wants to redeem your career. He wants to redeem your finances. God wants to redeem every aspect of your life. But He will not, until you have laid it down at the altar and surrendered it.

The disciples were asked to surrender their entire lives to follow Christ. They were fishermen, tax collectors, doctors, farmers, tent makers, religious leaders, shepherds, etc. Perhaps they all had families who were depending on them for financial support. Yet, Jesus asked them to surrender it all in order to follow Him. Jesus isn’t just asking us to surrender our control, or even the things we can’t control. He is asking us to surrender everything. To be willing to say “yes” when He says follow me. Even if that means doing the uncomfortable, socially unacceptable, or financially difficult thing. What is it that God is asking you to surrender? Whatever it is, you can trust that He will bring redemption to it and out of it.