Surrender Sojourn

A sojourn is not a capstone project or retreat. It is not something you set out to master in a year. It is also not a journey. A journey refers to the act of traveling or being on the move. Life is a spiritual journey - moving, growing, changing. A sojourn is a temporary stay or stopover along the way. My sojourn in surrender thus far has been an immersive spiritual experience along my spiritual journey. Ask yourself…

• Do you sometimes feel the need to control situations or others?

• Do you seek acknowledgment or praise for your actions or achievements?

• Do you hunger for relationships or accumulating things?

• Do you strive to be self-sufficient?

If you answered yes to any of these, you also may want to consider a sojourn in surrender. 

What is Surrender?

Surrender is the way we are called as Christians to live out our days. It is learning to let go of control and asking, “Why is this happening to me?” But instead ask, “How is God at work here?” in every moment of our lives, trusting that wherever we find ourselves, it is God’s plan and meant for our ultimate good, even during times of suffering.  

Though I am just halfway through my surrender sojourn, I have experienced increased awareness and deeper appreciation for learning to live in surrender.

Lessons I am Learning

Stillness

Surrender begins with interior stillness. In stillness, we are able to hear, sometimes for the first time in our lives, the small voice inside, different from the constant chatter inside our heads. Visualize a lake with a perfectly calm surface. When the lake is still, it reflects the light of the sun and moon with absolute perfection. If, however, there is agitation and turbulence beneath the surface, the light cannot reflect fully. That is exactly how it is with our interior. We have to remove distractions from our material world and get still. In stillness, we begin to surrender our turbulence, our anxiety, our fears, and listen for that small voice inside.

More Fully Present

In being still, we become more fully present to everything around us. EVERYTHING! Things you may not have even noticed before or took for granted. Life becomes richer by being more fully present.

Beauty

In this heightened state of awareness, we deeply see the beauty around us. Beauty in nature, awe in creation, beauty in love of the people put in our paths - whether that is family, friendships, or strangers at a first encounter. Life on Earth is not heaven. It falls far short of the extraordinary brilliance we read in John’s Book of Revelation.  But it is filled with beauty nonetheless that captivates our hearts and takes our breath away when we begin to surrender everything to God.

Temptation

Spiritual warfare is real. Lucifer, the fallen angel, desires us and is tenacious in his ways of luring us to him and away from choosing to love God. Do not think for a minute that your soul is not being fought over. It is a vicious battle, if we let it. But we will never be lost if we choose the triune God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are omnipotent over Satan. But we have to be alert and steadfast in avoiding sin and choosing Love (God) every day.

Peace

In surrender, we cultivate an interior practice of detachment. We must get comfortable with ambiguity and learn to trust the unseen and unknown. We are not our worries. Our worries are a part of us, but do not define us. We can surrender these ALL to God, and He will shower us with His peace. 

My surrender sojourn has brought me deeper and deeper in relationship with God, and I am tasting His blessings of interior peace and joy. Anxious striving does not grow us and does not transform us. “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” Matthew 16:25.  If you are feeling a tug of heart, I would love to have you join me on this sojourn.

Here are some supports that have helped me along the way:

Hallow App

• Detachment Challenge (So good, so good, SO GOOD!) 🙌

• Surrender Novena (led by Jonathan Roumie)

Books

• Searching for and Maintaining Peace, Jacques Philippe 

• The Way of Surrender,  Vic Clesceri

• The Surrender Experiment, Michael A. Singer

• The Untethered Soul, Michael A. Singer

Prayers

• The Litany of Trust

• The Jesus Prayer

• Psalm 107

• Psalm 23

• Our Father

I’ll be checking back in on my sojourn later this year. In the meantime, I hope to hear more from you. Until then,

Be Well ❤️

Kelly

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