Aliel Cunningham

In my childhood, I remember a story that had a very interesting picture described in it about a house and a road.  In the story, the main character was trying to get to a certain house, but she could not get there by taking the direct (seemingly obvious) path.  Every time she took that path, she found herself at a dead end or diverted onto another path that did not lead up to the house.  Eventually, she realized that she could only approach the house if she was willing to lose sight of the house by seemingly going the wrong direction.  Only then could she reach her destination for this was the only path that eventually wound its way up to the desired doorstep.

Now that I am grown, I haven’t been able to find that story again.  But I feel have lived its reality many times. Sometimes very literally. Recently, I was taking my friend to the airport and as I approached the airport exit (one I have taken many times), I realized that the GPS was telling me to go past the exit and take another farther down the road.  At first I balked at the idea – why go farther than I need to go, especially since I didn’t want my friend to be late?  But as I neared the exit, I saw the reason for the GPS route. The exit I normally take was backed up with long lines of holiday traffic.  If I had trusted my understanding, I would have ended up being delayed in the long, stacked up lines of traffic.  The quickest route to the airport in this case was the longer one. 

This lesson of being willing to surrender the direct, seemingly shorter route to my goal has been a reoccurring theme in my conversations and journey with God for many years now. And only by slow degrees am I starting to recognize this truth: When God is asking me to let go of something, it is often not so that He can take it away, but so that He can lead me to what I truly desire by the only road that goes there. Reading through the Bible, you quickly see God’s preference for the long over the short road.  And the ingredient He is usually looking for in the hearts and attitudes of His people before He takes them to the long-awaited destination is unconditional surrender.

Abraham must surrender his understanding, Joseph his dreams, Moses his position, her homeland, David his kingdom, Mary her reputation, and Jesus his life.  In each of these cases, their place of surrender is a test about where their true loyalties lie. Did they trust in their own understanding, ability, position, authority, reputation, or career to save them?  Or did they simply trust in God to be their salvation? Trust Him to be their rescuer when no rescue seemed possible, their way forward when no door could be seen, their hope for resurrection when they could see no future on the horizon?

Surrender and trust seem to be God’s secret sauce. He is waiting for us to get to the point where we no longer have any plan of our own, no more clever ideas about what is the best road to take, no more reliance on our own ability and resources to save us.  Then, we look to Him in trust and surrender, and the doors of His fulfillment seem to fly wide open. Abraham is given a beloved son and heir, Joseph the authority he dreamt about, Moses leadership of a new nation, Ruth a secure home and legacy, David a throne, and Mary honor and respect for generations.

Hebrews 11 is called the Biblical Hall of Faith because it reviews story after story of those who had to surrender their own way forward and put their trust in God and were rewarded for their faith. And yet this inspiring chapter concludes with these words, “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment… and all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:35b-40). This account runs contrary to the American cultural story in which we are encouraged to go for our dreams with all that we have in us and not let anything (or anyone!) get in our way. 

God’s kingdom culture prizes another approach to our dreams – surrender the direct road of ambition and self-sufficiency and come to Jesus. There are no guarantees of reaching our own destinations when we surrender and put our life’s direction into His hands. Martin Luther once said, “God made man out of nothing, and as long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.” But He does guarantee to give us more of Himself on the road that He takes us on. He is the only Good Shepherd who knows the secret path to the true green pastures that will satisfy our heart’s desires.  When we unconditionally surrender to our King and allow Him to lead us the long road home, then and only then will we find the delight of our hearts and satisfaction of our souls. After all, this is simply what He has said about Himself: “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  There is no other road home to the Father’s house but through Jesus and His way always requires the same steps that He Himself took. The left foot says, “I surrender” and the right foot says, “I trust”.