Surrender

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

We all want what we want. Isn’t that a familiar refrain in today’s vernacular, “I want what I want”? I came head-to-head with this mindset when we put our house on the market in 2024. Once we decided to sell and the sign was in the yard, I wanted it sold! I wanted it sold quickly. I was ready to buy our next house; I wanted to move. Do you see all the “I’s”? My eyes were fixed on myself rather than on God.

Gentle Correction

Though I prayed often about the sale of our home, I had not fully surrendered it to God...not in the process and certainly not in the timing. Instead, I found myself settling into an attitude of “oh, well.” But surrender is not passive resignation. It is wholehearted trust in God’s will, confident that He is working all things for His good purposes. My “oh, well” posture was simply another form of control, a subtle expression of distrust. In His patient mercy, God gently corrected me and showed me what it means to surrender completely.

Full Surrender

The Greek word pisteuō is the New Testament verb for “to believe.” It appears more than 240 times and carries a far deeper meaning than mere intellectual agreement. Often referring to a saving faith, it conveys trusting, relying upon, clinging to...full surrender that results in action. When Scripture says, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31), we are not being called to mental assent alone, but to trust, to depend, to align our lives with Jesus.

We see a powerful example of this kind of faith in the Gospel of Matthew 8:8. The centurion humbly declares, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. In verse 13, Jesus responds using the word episteusas for “believed,” indicating an active, personal trust rather than mere acknowledgment. As you have believed, so let it be done for you, and the servant is healed. This Gentile centurion demonstrates remarkable trust in Jesus’ authority and power, complete confidence without visible proof. His belief was not theoretical; it was surrendered trust.

In God’s perfect timing, our house sold, and we were able to move to a new place. Through that journey, He gently taught me that true belief is more than mere agreement. It is the wholehearted entrusting of ourselves to Christ — His authority, His timing, His purposes — even when the “For Sale” sign still stands in the yard.

In Christ's love,

Tracey