#surrender #relax by: Deborah Ard
I have just returned from an adventurous trip to Washington, DC with my family. Traveling in such busy traffic has been somewhat eye opening to me. First of all, I realized how thankful I am to live where I live. Secondly, I am thankful that I was not doing the driving.

Perhaps my most important discovery is that I realized that when we are traveling in such bad traffic it is best for me to not look where we are going. I say this because the traffic causes me to be a nervous wreck and to constantly tell Clark how he should be driving. LOL! So instead of looking where we are going I read a book and occasionally dozed off to sleep. One time as I closed my eyes I realized that by doing so I was surrendering my will to control. I was completely trusting that Clark knew where to go and that he would get us there safely (along with the help of the GPS lol). I was able to rest peacefully. This reminded me that this is how we should be when it comes to our lives. Every day we are going full steam ahead, rolling down the interstates of life. Every day we run into traffic that slows us up or causes us stress. Being the humans that we are we try to decide which way we should go and how we should get there. However what we should do is surrender the steering wheel and allow God to lead.
While studying about the word surrender I ran across Psalm 9:9-10 NIV:
“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”
Now look at the same scripture from The Message:
“God’s a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you’re never sorry you knocked.”
WOW! Trust=Relax! What an aha moment for me! When you and I are able to surrender and trust God we are able to relax! So what takes us so long to get to the point of surrender? One definition of surrender is “to abandon oneself entirely to; give in to.” Therein lies our issue. We do not like to abandon ourselves, our ideas, and our control. Yet if we would we would be able to relax.
As I have shared with you, my family and I are in the process of getting ready to sell our house and buy a new one. At the moment I do not know how long this process will take nor do I know where we will end up living. However this is one area God has shown me that I must surrender control. He has given me a peace and I rest in the knowledge that He will guide and direct our path. My ability to surrender has been years in the making and did not come easily. However I do feel now I can relax.
I encouraged you earlier in the week to ask God to reveal an area that you needed to surrender control. Did He? Have your eyes been opened? Perhaps it is related to your health or the health of a loved one, your future or your finances. The list could go on and on. Whatever the area for you I pray that you are able to surrender and trust God so that as a result you may be able to relax. Maybe you can even take a nap!

Photos by Aussie Dave & Toby Mac