“All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
I surrender all.
I surrender all.
All to thee my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.”
-I Surrender All
J.W. Van DeVenter: 1896
Several years after this hymn was published in multiple hymnals across several denominations, J.W. Van DeVenter acknowledged that he wrote the song during a particularly confusing time in his life. He found himself torn between pursuing art, which he had always had a knack for, and going into full-time evangelism. He knew that God had a calling on his life, but he also knew what he had always wanted to do with his own life. Finally, after he had spent time in prayer, he surrendered his will to God’s, accepting God’s plan for his life.
While songwriting wasn’t the type of art that he had planned on pursuing, God allowed J.W. Van DeVenter, it was one of the ways in which God used him. When you know more about his life, this isn’t exactly surprising.
After growing up on a farm, Van DeVenter graduated from college with a degree in art. He was teaching art in the public school system, and he was active in his local church. In fact, his dedication to his church prompted his friends to start pushing him towards evangelism.
While it took him five years to truly surrender his plans to those that God had for him, the impact that Van DeVenter had on the Church is still being felt today. That is because Billy Graham, perhaps the most famous evangelist in history, cited Van Deventer as one of the biggest influences on his life and ministry.
How much different would things be had Van Deventer never surrendered his will to the will of God? That’s the power of truly surrendering ourselves to God.
Not only is there power in surrender, but there is also safety in it. You may never write a worship song that is a part of church services a hundred years after you composed it. You may never evangelize in such a way that you influence the next Billy Graham. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t long for you to surrender your will to His. When you do that, you can have your own J.W. Van DeVenter moment.
Overcoming Fear
Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
When we’re talking about surrender and fear, it’s easy to take our modern cultural approach to those two concepts. We often incorrectly assume that surrendering means that we’re so overcome with fear that we just give up. That’s not how God sees surrender, and it’s not how we should see it either.
Surrendering to God isn’t a sign that we’re overcome with fear. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. When we surrender to God, it’s because we have overcome fear.
Humans have a natural inclination to try to figure things out on our own. We like the idea of being in control. That’s because we’re often afraid of what will happen when we’re not in control. Faith overcomes that fear, allowing us to surrender to God.
In the verse that we just read, Joshua had just become the leader of Israel following the death of Moses. God knew that the only way Joshua would effectively lead the people was to surrender his will to God’s. That’s why God reminded Joshua that he didn’t have to be afraid or discouraged. We can rest in the same promise. Today, don’t be afraid to let go.
Surrender Makes Us Christlike
Luke 22:41-42 (NIV)
He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
You will never be more like Christ than you are when you surrender your will to God’s will. This was a lesson that the 12 disciples got to learn firsthand. When you look at the life and ministry of Christ, and how it impacted the lives of the disciples, you see examples of surrender.
When Christ called the disciples to leave everything they knew to follow Him, they went. When Jesus would send the disciples ahead of Himself into a city, they went. When God the Father wanted Jesus to do something, the Son simply went. Time after time, we see surrender at work in the lives of Christ and His disciples. This was never more true than in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night that Christ was arrested.
He was fully aware of the pain that awaited Him on the cross. He knew the shame, and He knew that the disciples would abandon Him. With all that knowledge on hand, Christ still chose to submit His will to the will of the Father.
As Christians, we are called to be Christlike. That includes the difficult aspects, such as surrender. In His flesh, Christ didn’t want to die on the cross. However, He knew that it was God’s plan for our salvation, so He surrendered. When we submit our lives and our wills to God, we can truly carry out His purpose for us.
The Safety of Surrender
Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Hiroo Onoda is widely considered the last Japanese-born soldiers to surrender following World War 2. Onoda was stationed in the Philippines when American forces overtook the island in 1945. Onoda and some of his comrades fled into the jungle, but eventually each of his friends were killed or taken captive. For a staggering 29 years, Onoda believed that every attempt to lure him out of the jungle was a trick. For nearly three decades, he hid in the jungle, believing that World War 2 was still going on.
In 1974, Japanese leaders sent a commanding officer to order Onoda to surrender. He came out of the jungle in his full dress uniform, his sword sharpened, and his rifle in full working order. While Onoda is widely considered a powerful example of commitment, isn’t it sad that he lost decades of his life continuing to fight a war that was over? No, there is no way to definitively say what would have happened to Onoda if he had surrendered in the 1970s, but we do know that he wouldn’t have wasted decades of his life fighting a war that was already over.
When we refuse to surrender, we end up wasting time, losing the one thing that we can never get back. Unfortunately, we often miss out on the future that we could have because we’re trying to fight battles that should have been over much earlier.
While Hiroo Onoda was committed to the cause he believed in, he deprived himself of years of his life because he refused to surrender. Don’t make the same mistake.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for fighting my battles for me. Thank You for having a plan for my life that is far greater than anything that I could ever think of. Give me the strength to surrender my will to Yours. Give me the type of strength that Christ had when He said that He didn’t want His will, but wanted Yours instead. Thank You for the safety that You provide when I give up the battle and surrender to You. In Christ’s name, Amen.