Surrender Makes You Stronger

Done right, surrender has the ability to make you stronger.
Most men, however, surrender to all the wrong things.
We surrender to fears and we avoid stepping outside our comfort zones. We surrender to desires and we engage in behaviors that wreck our minds and bodies. We surrender to the world’s definition of success and we chase after empty desires like money and fame.
Not surprisingly, many men struggle with the idea of yielding to anything or anyone. Surrender feels like weakness, and if often defies everything we want to believe about ourselves.
But in the realm of human performance, yielding to weight is often the first step to gaining strength.
A few years ago, I coached a Navy SEAL prior to deployment. As I coached him through a back squat, I explained that he would lower his body with a barbell on his shoulders, essentially yielding to the weight on the bar. Once he reached a certain point, he would push back to a standing position, effectively overcoming the weight on the bar.
Even in the form of exercise, he didn’t like the idea of surrender, because America’s elite warriors don’t buckle to challenges.

He, like many men, didn’t understand that the right kind of surrender spawns power and strength. 

Jesus understood this.
He knew his mission required physical, psychological, and spiritual pain; that death on a cross would be the most painful experience known to man.
In spite of his fear, Jesus surrendered to the Father.
The most elite of all men, the man who actually did save the world, understood that surrender was necessary to complete his mission. He had to surrender to God’s plan in order to save the world.
Jesus teaches us that surrender to the Father develops us into the men we were created to be.
Consider your greatest failure and know that God can turn it into a message of encouragement for others.
Consider your greatest weakness and know that God does his very best work when we’re at our weakest.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  2 Cor. 12:9

Surrendering to Christ begins when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable; when we understand that God knows everything about us and He loves us anyway.
When we refuse to feel shame for our mistakes and instead lean into the struggle, we grow stronger and more powerful.
Just like the SEALs, men are called to bring light to dark places.
God calls men to use their skills, talents, passions, and resources to be dangerous.
He created you to engage with the people around you and to protect them from the dark.

And if you don’t think of yourself as dangerous? Then you’re listening to the wrong voices.