The Power of Surrender

Sometimes you find yourself at a crossroads, or a turning point. You know the place? where you can either go one way, or the other, and in this place, you may need to seek counsel and advice. Other times, all you can do is fully surrender. This happens when you are faced with a circumstance so big, like a enormous boulder in your path that you cannot see literally any way around on the narrow path you may be walking. You have tried EVERY possible way around the boulder, or challenge, but nothing seems to be working. It is during moments such as these, when it seems all you can do is fully surrender to a situation, or challenge you may be faced with. There is power in surrender though, because the creator, or Great Spirit knows our every need and concern. And sometimes I believe, he is just waiting for us to quit trying so hard to fix everything, or to fix a situation we have very little control of anyways and just give it over to him. He waits, he glories in those opportunities to show himself, to reveal his power, and his unfailing love for us all. He yearns for us to call upon him for everything. It is just in these moments of surrender that he can really show forth his glory and power, usually because we are so humbled and so broken down and open.

A perfect example of this type of surrender was the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt in their exodus (or migration), when pharaoh decided to take revenge. In the moment when all the Israelites were surrounded by the Sea on one side and by the army of pharaoh on the other, coming to literally destroy them, all Moses could do as their leader was surrender, because in his limited perspective they were trapped. So that is exactly what he did was surrender to a higher power. And look what happened? God revealed marvelous power and delivered the people in a miraculous way.

I remember well a very trying time such as this in my own families lives. It was few years ago. I had lost the best paying job of my entire life just a few months before Christmas. My wife and I at the time and I were praying for a miracle, not knowing where to turn. We couldn't pay rent, and we had absolutely no money for Christmas. On top of that, we were several thousand dollars past due on all of our most basic bills. In that moment and situation, all we could do was surrender, as we were in way over our heads. So, that is what we did. We surrendered everything to God. You see The Power of Surrender is that it pulls you to your knees, to the ground, where you realize your own humility and limited power compared to the power of the universe and you humbly and sincerely ask for help and surrender your situation to a much greater entity.

Needless to say, our prayers were answered, but in a completely bizarre way. We were praying for a miracle for things to turn around. I guess the old saying is true, "be careful what you pray for," because just a few weeks later, our house caught on fire in the middle of the night, due to a wood burning stove. We lost pretty much everything. But, then an amazing thing started to happen. The community responded to our loss. Money, gifts, clothing, food, furniture and etc. began flooding in from everywhere in an avalanche of abundance. We lost our home, but in our surrender, God gave us a fresh new start with a ton of resources and we were able to totally start over with a clean slate financially.

That is The Power of Surrender. It is not weakness. It is not about giving up, but rather giving in to a power and force that is much greater and wiser than you and me. This lesson was a great lesson in surrender for me and my family. In surrender lies great strength and power because you are saying, God I can't fix this. All I can do is all I can do, the rest now God is up to you. I can't get out of this jam alone. And you are turning your problem/challenge over to God, or the Great spirit, or Allah to help you resolve it. You are reaching, or turning to him for help. And I am here to testify that in that moment of surrender comes some of life's greatest blessings and gifts!

Giving in to Letting Go

I remember the first time I heard this concept-the idea of letting go, the power of surrender. I thought it was ludicrous. I have always been a go getter. And I have always been able to make things happen, to go after and achieve the results that I wanted to achieve. I was involved in a lot of sports when I was growing up (basketball, football, track, and soccer). And I learned to excel at most of them, by being aggressive, by using that bull headed, take charge mentality. It wasn't until many years later, that I learned there was a higher power I could incorporate into my life and actually accomplish more, by not pushing so hard. It is a Hindu teaching called The Law of Least Effort, or "do less and accomplish more." The idea behind this is that when we are pushing hard to accomplish something, we are rigid in our approach, and we are not acting in harmony with natural laws. Also, in this state of mind, we are most often coming from a place of "I" can do this. "I" can make this thing happen, which is the ego operating and not our highest selves. And don't get me wrong, there are people who produce, or who have produced great results this way, that have achieved a lot of success and abundance in their lives. I know, I was one of them. The problem with this type of approach though, is that you eventually run out of energy, or you become rigid and break under pressure, or you cause yourself a lot of unnecessary pain and stress. And you also keep out the presence that would gladly help you achieve your desires.

There is a better way to do things, a more natural way. That way is what I call, Giving in to Letting Go, or The Law of Least Effort. Lao Tzu said, "An integral being knows without going, sees without looking, and accomplishes without doing." The word integral is synonymous to being integrated, whole, or integrated in mind, body and spirit. When we operate from a place of being integrated, we are more balanced, poised, flexible in our approach, more aligned with the natural order of things, and more aligned with spirit. Deepak Chopra had this to say about The Law of Least Effort in his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, "This law is based on the fact that nature's intelligence functions with effortless ease and abandoned carefreeness. This is the principle of least action, of no resistance. This is, therefore, the principle of harmony and love. When we learn this lesson from nature, we easily fulfill our desires."

In our culture, we are all about convenience and instant gratification. We all want success and we want it now. This is not what Giving in to Letting Go is about. It is not about being lazy and just waiting for things to come to you, or about instant gratification. But, it is about staying in tune with the natural order of things, being patient, and accomplishing things gradually, like nature. It is about keeping the spiritual aspect first in your life and always coming from a place of being spiritually full. There is a scripture from the Bible that really sums it all up, in Matthew 6:33: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. " When we take time to go to the source, to stay connected to the source, we are able to utilize a greater power to accomplish everyday things. Giving in to Letting Go is also about using visualization, positive affirmations, will power, in short, using our God-given resources to attract the things we desire, using the spiritual gifts we have been given, to create. Giving in to Letting Go is about surrendering to a higher will and design for our lives. It is about non-attachment to results, or not expecting things to go a certain way. This means remaining flexible. If you are pushing and pushing and nothing is happening, or things are not happening the way you want them to, then let go. Maybe it's not the right timing, or you are not ready yet, or maybe there is a better way to accomplish what you're trying to accomplish. Be patient, listen to your spiritual promptings and guidance. Breathe and meditate upon the things you are trying to bring forth, allowing spirits presence to come into play. Taste the sweetness and ease of living and accomplishing your goals and desires in a new way, Give in to Letting Go and watch the magic flow...

Copyright Justin Topik 2009