The life of surrender is to place your life in the hands of God, and forget it there, remembering only those two compassionate hands…

The greatest thing that tires a person is to become independent from God and rely on oneself in managing one’s affairs—being led by one’s mind, or by one’s desires, or by others. Or to have a partial dependence on God, or one that lacks depth and trust…

How can you leave your matters entirely to God, without inserting your own will and methods? This requires trust in God, faith in His care and good management. It also requires love for God, experience with Him, and an inner certainty that as long as you have entrusted a matter to Him, He will surely act and resolve it…

Those who walked in the Red Sea, with waters surrounding them on both sides, must have surrendered their lives to the Lord and trusted Him completely.

Likewise, those who walked under the cloud, not knowing where they were going. Likewise Peter, who walked on the water, trusting in the hand that held him. And Noah, who boarded the ark with the beasts, leaving its قيادة over the flood to God Himself…

Adam did not live the life of surrender when he followed his own desire, or his wife, or the serpent, independent of God and His command… He let the tree of knowledge lead him, and it led him to ignorance and death… And Jonah did not live the life of surrender when he fled from God and became angry at His divine will even to death, asking death for himself…

King Saul’s downfall was due to his independence from God, following his own thoughts and inclinations, and resorting to the counsel of a sorceress…

The life of surrender is the life of those about whom the Lord said, “I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.” Each one feels that he is in the palm of the Lord—and that is enough. Wherever He leads, he goes; however He shapes, he becomes…

Like lambs with the shepherd, wherever he leads they go, reassured and trusting in his care, without thinking, as the hymn says, “Where He leads me, I will follow.”

The life of surrender does not accept argument or discussion.

Truly, who has been a counselor to the Lord?! Do you surrender your life to the Lord, then supply Him with your suggestions and advice from your intelligence and experience?! It is enough to trust.

“I have a problem, O Lord, I have presented it to You. I fasted for it and prayed. I handed it to You, confident that You will act. How will You act? And when? I do not know. All I know is that You will do good… And I will see Your work now or later. This is something I see through faith, love, trust, fellowship with You, and my long experiences with Your care…”

Abraham, the father of fathers, according to the Lord’s command, left his homeland, his family, and his tribe, to the mountain that the Lord would show him. And as Paul said, he did not know where he was going… but he walked behind God by faith. In the same way, Matthew left the tax office and followed the Lord, not knowing where. And likewise Peter and Andrew left the boat, the nets, the family, and the fishing.

All these did not know where they were going, but they surrendered their lives to the Lord’s guidance, with closed eyes and open hearts…

Our father Abraham doubted one day and took Hagar to bear him a son, thinking Sarah could not bear because of her old age. But God insisted, saying, “In Isaac shall your seed be called,” no matter how old she became.

In the life of surrender, we must trust the Lord regardless of external circumstances and obstacles. God is God… and His promises remain the same. As for how He works, it is not our concern.

The life of surrender does not worry at all about timing…

As long as you have asked the Lord, trust that the moment He heard you, He responded. And He will choose the appropriate time.

The life of surrender does not ask many questions and does not cling to means…

Our fathers the apostles went to preach in lands they did not know—their languages, their people, or their traditions. They had no resources or means, nothing for the journey. But they trusted in the One who sent them…

The stories of preaching were stories of amazing faith and surrender…

Likewise the stories of our fathers the desert wanderers.

They lived as strangers in deserts and wilderness, surrendering their lives to the Lord alone to care for them. Anba Paula was brought half a loaf daily by a raven. Many wanderers lived without resources…

He who surrenders his life to the Lord does not worry or carry anxiety.

“Do not worry about what you will eat or drink… your heavenly Father knows that you need all these… do not worry about tomorrow…”

How wonderful it is to hear of John the Baptist, that an angel carried him as a child into the wilderness. Or Philip, who baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, was carried by the Spirit of the Lord and found in Azotus. Or Saint Macarius the Great, when he grew tired on the road and said, “You know, O Lord, I have no strength left,” immediately found himself in Scetis…

The Spirit of God who led His children in the past is able to lead you.

How beautiful is the saying of Jeremiah the prophet: “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”

Those who lived the life of surrender also tasted the life of experience.

They experienced the Lord and tasted Him, so their faith grew stronger, entering deeper into surrender. The life of experience تثبتهم in surrender, and surrender leads them daily into new experiences… In all this, they increase in faith and trust, and faith increases their surrender. The cycle continues…

Wonderful is the Lord in His guidance of people, and in His saying about Himself, “My name is Wonderful.” Truly, whoever experiences Him finds Him wonderful.

He said to Jacob, the father of fathers, “I am with you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land,” and Jacob walked relying on the Lord’s promise…

He who lives the life of surrender does not ask what will happen tomorrow.

“Tomorrow will worry about its own things.” God is the One concerned with tomorrow—it belongs not to you, but to Him. You only have your present moment; leave the rest to the Lord, trusting that in the life of surrender He will arrange it with love and wisdom…

God leads you step by step, so do not carry the burden of the end of the road…

Through surrender, you live in peace. But many worries exhaust you…

Surrender all your concerns to the Lord. Cast your burden upon Him, and He will sustain you. He cares for you. How long will you carry burdens that break your back? Cast them upon God. Is He not the One who said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”?

The God who carried the burdens of the whole world, from Adam until now and to the end of ages—would it be too much for Him to carry your concerns?!

There is a person who lives in the church troubled, carrying its burdens. Instead of letting God carry his concerns, he carries God’s concerns, so to speak… Why exhaust yourself, my son? God will carry you, and carry the church and all its burdens without your worry…

It is good to experience the Lord; then you will tell your children and grandchildren…

Not a God of books, but a God of experience, fellowship, and taste—a God of every day, every moment, every event… The God who has never abandoned His children: “My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up.” Those who have not tasted the Lord are poor…

A child gives his hand to his father to cross through crowded transportation; he does not fear at all because he trusts the hand holding him. Likewise the child who clings to his mother’s shoulder trusts that he is in deep safety and comfort…

This child lives the life of surrender. Would that we also return to spiritual childhood, in its simplicity, trust, and surrender…

“Unless you turn and become like children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of God,” nor reach peace, calmness, and happiness…

Live in the life of surrender, do not argue, and do not complain.

As long as we cling to our own plans and thoughts, we will become weary.

One of the saints reflected on the apostle’s words, “We have left everything and followed You.” He said that leaving everything means leaving our own desires and will.

“O Lord, I have labored all night and caught nothing, but in the life of surrender, at Your word I will cast the net. And I trust it will be filled with fish. The God of the sea will fill it.”

May the Church surrender her life to Him who leads her in the procession of His victory, to whom belongs all glory, power, and blessing. Amen.

An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – in El-Keraza Magazine – Year Eight (Issue Thirty-Seven), 16-9-1977

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