Devotionals for the Heart: How I learned to surrender and trust God

Why We Need to Trust God and Surrender to Him
A devotional by Colette Christopher

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

—Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

Solomon, the wisest man God created, tells his son to trust God. His wisdom is recorded in the verse above (Proverbs 3:5-6).

We are to trust God not with a part of our heart but with our whole heart. Solomon could make that bold statement because he had the experience of what it was like to fully surrender his everything to Almighty God. Perhaps you say that Solomon made some unwise decisions and did things God told him not to. But that doesn’t negate the fact that there were a lot of times when he relied solely on God. He knew the outcomes of those times worked in his favor when he relinquished control to God and asked Him to take control. This is why he can encourage us today through Scripture to do the same.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word “trust” means “to rely on the truthfulness or accuracy of: believe” or “to place confidence in” and “to hope or expect confidently.” The word “surrender” means “the action of yielding one's person or giving up the possession of something especially into the power of another.”

As I reflect on my life and think back to the times when I truly applied this Scripture (Proverbs 3:5-6) to my life as I learned how to surrender to God and trust Him, I saw and experienced the hand of God in profound ways. If I trust God then I have to surrender my will to His. We can’t have one without the other. We have to give Him total control and trust that the outcome for the challenges we face, the difficulties and hardships. Tough decisions we have to make yield better results when we leave it in God’s capable hands.

It’s easy to say we will trust God and we will surrender everything to Him. But when we are in a time crunch, when our backs are against a wall, and time seems to be running out, we sometimes take matters into our own hands. We should know that the outcome from that decision is never good. However, when we take our hands off the steering wheel and give God full control, it is in those moments that we experience peace, joy, and satisfaction because we know that no matter what, God’s will is the final outcome. And His will is best.

Have you ever been in a place of waiting on God to show up for you? You are praying and waiting and believing. Perhaps you are quoting Proverbs 3:5-6 like your life depended on it because you know that the outcome you desire is something only God can do? What do you do in those moments? Did you recall past experiences, looked at the outcome when you surrendered to His will and timing and then look at what happened when you didn’t?

The lessons I have learned from both scenarios are always a reminder to trust God no matter what and not to take matters into my own hands. What have you learned from those experiences and how has it affected your desire to lean into God?

I know trusting and surrendering aren’t easy. It’s especially hard in these days when the demands of life are upon us, our needs seem unbearable and waiting seems far-fetched. But as I recall the Bible story in Genesis chapter 16 about Abraham and Sarah. They took matters into their own hands because they couldn’t trust God’s word and surrender to His plans. This true story taught me how important it is to trust God and not rush ahead of Him.

My prayer is that every time we are about to lean to our own understanding and acknowledge our own capabilities then we will remember not only our own outcomes when we didn’t wait on God, but the outcome of Sarah and Abraham’s impatience and the negative results that occurred after they rushed ahead of God.

Today, I encourage you, despite what your circumstances say, to trust God and surrender your heart and will to Him. God is producing something within you that far outweighs the answered prayer we desperately need. When we wait while God is working on our behalf, we are building our faith, trust and confidence in Him. This makes it easier to surrender our hearts and own understanding of what should be and lean into the fact that surrender and trust leads to God directing our path.

Let’s Pray:

Dear God,

You alone are Sovereign and You know the end from the beginning. Thank You for your infinite wisdom. I pray for every person reading this devotional today. Please strengthen and undergird them. When they feel like waiting is too hard, remind them of this promise: As we acknowledge You (God) then You will direct our path. Thank You for developing within us the desire to submit our will to You. In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen.

Song of Reflection #1: “I Surrender” by Hillsong. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #2: “Order My Steps” by GMWA Women of Worship. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #3: “I Surrender All” by Cece Winans. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #4: “Wait on the Lord” by Donnie McClurkin. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Colette Christopher is an empowered woman who inspires women to be who they were created to be. Her core message is empowerment. She is an author, certified life coach, podcast host, and trainer with the Maxwell Leadership team. 

Colette believes that an empowered woman empowers others and is powerful in knowing who she is and what she can accomplish. Colette is on a mission to impact the lives of the women assigned to her, whether she is their coach or trainer or shares a word that will transform their lives.

Colette utilizes her Christian principles as the base of all her engagements. She is passionate about fulfilling her life purpose of empowering women to know who they are, rebuild their confidence, and use their voices as tools to uplift themselves and others.

​​She is the founder of the M.E.E. Movement L.L.C., a faith-based empowerment ministry business that helps women of faith rebuild their confidence and use their voice to walk in their purpose through life coaching, mentoring, and empowerment speaking. Colette believes in using the gifts God has given her to help women be who God has called them to be and ultimately fulfill the purpose for which they were created. She lives by Romans 8:28 (NIV), that promises, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

A native of Jamaica, Colette resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She is the mother of two beautiful young women, a son-in-love, and two grandsons. Colette enjoys reading, writing, watching good movies, and chatting with her daughters and friends.

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Connect with Colette:
Blog: https://www.colettemarie.online/blog
Website: https://www.colettemarie.online/
Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2367935
Email: Colettemarieonline@gmail.com