Leadership and Surrender

You’ll rarely encounter the words leadership and surrender used together in a complementary fashion. Society has labeled surrender as a sign of leadership weakness, when in fact, it can be among the greatest of leadership strengths. The whole idea of surrendering to someone else’s control runs counter to the prevailing mindset of our culture—we don’t want anyone telling us what to do—we want to be in control of our own lives! But paradoxically, we are never truly free until we have fully surrendered ourselves to the Word and will of God – our Maker/Creator.

Let me be clear, I’m not encouraging giving in or giving up – I am suggesting you learn the ever so subtle art of letting go as a Leader.

My friends, surrender is not:

Surrender is a blank cheque, without restrictions. It’s you telling God, “All I have, all I am, all I ever hope to be—I offer to you.” It’s like a dye that bleeds through everything in our lives. It affects our obedience; it affects our sacrifice; it affects our behavior and most importantly it affects our leadership. Surrender exposes our hearts and shows us who we truly are.

I truly understand how tough it can be to lead a surrendered life because I struggled with it most of my life. When I understood it through having a relationship with God and Trusting Him, it was the best thing that happened to me. I promise you, there is no safer place to be.

The question you must be asking yourself is, why am I so afraid to surrender? Well, the answer is you do not trust. Surrender requires trust. You really don’t trust God. And where does the lack of trust come from – a lack of relationship with Him. It is not easy for anyone to trust someone they have no relationship with. If you want to get to know God better, you will need to do what you would do when getting to know a friend or dating someone – spend time with them – lots of time. The truth of the matter is that we all want a break – heck, we all need a break from this broken world. It’s not like you enjoy the struggles you go through daily or enjoy bearing all the burdens that seem to follow you everywhere. That is why we are told to cast our burdens unto Him because He cares.

My friends, this life we have been given was never meant to make us comfortable or for us to seek our own happiness. No! If you consider yourself a leader or aspire to be one, you must live and lead a life of surrender understanding that you cannot control what happens in this world. This season of COVID-19 has shown us how leaders who have always believed they are in control of everything feel completely out of control. Their plans, strategies and all their good intentions are not amounting to much. It is in such times that Leaders need to seek, search and live for something greater than themselves.

The truth is that a leader simply operates at their best when they understand their ability to influence is much more impactful than their ability to control. Here’s the thing – the purpose of leadership is not to shine the spotlight on yourself, but to unlock the potential of others so they can in turn shine the spotlight on countless more. Control is about power – not leadership. Surrender allows a leader to get out of their own way and focus on adding value to those whom they serve.

Today, you have the power to let go and surrender from whatever it is that has you held hostage; to really buy-in and give it all to God.

Go ahead.

Accept God’s will, obey the Lord, and surrender yourself totally to His leading.

I promise, there is no safer place to be.

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