Surrender to Him
by Fr. David M. Knight
June 11, 2024
Tenth Week of the Year Tuesday
Lectionary No. 360
1Kings 17:7-16 shows us a double surrender to God’s will, but based on two different foundations.
The widow Elijah met was surrendered to dying: “There is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug... for myself and my son. When we have eaten it, we shall die.” We don’t know what this widow believed about life after death. If she was saying to God, “Thy will be done,” it was probably more resignation to the inevitable than surrender into the arms of a loving Father.
But her response to Elijah’s request and promise was clearly an act of faith. She took the word of a prophet as God’s word. She may have felt doubt, but what she said in action—both to Elijah and to God—was, “Thy will be done.” In this free choice she was trusting that God’s will would be what Elijah said it was. She was surrendering herself and her son into the arms of a God she chose to trust. And she made that choice based on the word of a human being she chose to trust as speaking in God’s name.
This is what we do whenever we surrender to anything humanly unknowable, but do so willingly on the basis of God’s word coming to us in Scripture, in reliable Church teaching, or in inspirations we discern as coming from the Holy Spirit. When Christians say, “Thy will be done!’ it is not resignation but surrender.
Surrender based on faith always includes both hope and love.
In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus tells us why surrender to him is always love for neighbor. Everything God gives us, he gives us to share. We are made in the image of the Trinity, whose life is mutual sharing between Father, Son and Spirit. And the Three Persons share with us all they have and are. Jesus said, “I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.”
He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands.
Now Jesus tells us: “You are the light of the world.... No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub, but on a lamp-stand, where it shines for everyone in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that, seeing your good works they may give praise to your Father in heaven.” When we pray, “Hallowed be thy name!” we are inspired to commit ourselves as disciples to knowing God better in order to make him known. When we continue on to pray “Thy will be done,” we are surrendering ourselves to let him express himself through us even when it costs us to do so. This is love.
Decision: Make your life constant surrender to God and others in love.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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