Freedom and Victory in Surrender

By Carl Kimbro, Fellowship Bible Church Rogers Celebrate Recovery Devotional Team writer, 3/11/20


I love history, and I love studying World War II. Wars are fought for various reasons, but the goal is always the same…victory. No one goes to war hoping to surrender. In war, victory and surrender couldn’t be more opposite. Surrender is seen as weak, victory as strong. Surrender means failure, while victory is the sought-after prize.

This definition of victory and surrender was what I brought with me into recovery. The idea of freedom and victory in surrender didn’t seem possible. How can submitting to anything bring freedom and victory? Human nature says don’t ask for help because that’s a sign of weakness. I got myself into this situation, so I need to get myself out, too. Besides, God wouldn’t help me even if I asked. He has heard me promise to quit living in my sin and seen me break my promises so often, He has probably given up on me. He’s waiting for me to get my act together before He will forgive me. I was trying to fight the war on my own power, and I didn’t want to give up. For me to believe the truth of freedom in surrender, I had to first fall back on my acceptance of the first three principles:

Principle 1
Realize I am not God, admit that I’m powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing, and my life is unmanageable.
I can’t fix myself, only God can, because He has the power to do so. I had to admit that I was controlled by my sin. Doing so meant I had to surrender my will to God.

Principle 2
Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.
I believed God existed, and that He could help me. But I didn’t think He would, because in my mind I had to be a disappointment to Him. But the more I learned in Celebrate Recovery, the more I understood that God did care for me. If I confessed my sins, He would forgive me and help me resist temptation in the future. Fully embracing principle two in conjunction with principle one really helped me live out principle three.

Principle 3
Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.
When I accepted that I mattered to God and He loved me, I was able to see the need to surrender my life to Him. Putting God in control meant trusting Him for the outcome of any situation. That was no easy task. But when I sought Him in the bible and in prayer, I saw God as the loving father He is. He hated my sin, but He loved me. I surrendered my life and my sin to him, but this time surrender didn’t feel like defeat, it felt like victory! For the first time in a long time, sin did not control me. I had found freedom in surrender!

Let's pray this prayer together:
God, thank you for this reminder today, that there really is freedom and victory in surrendering to your power to help me recover from life’s hurts, hang-up’s, and habits.  I choose today to commit all of my life to your care and control.  Amen.

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