Surrender

 If you grew up going to a Southern Baptist Church with your grandparents like I did, you may remember the hymn , "I Surrender All".

Here are the lyrics:

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

All to Jesus I surrender

Make me, Savior, wholly Thine

Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit

Truly knowing that Thou art mine

I surrender all

I surrender all

All to Thee

My blessed Savior

I surrender all (ooh)

Ooh

Ooh

Ooh

All to Jesus I surrender

Now I feel the sacred flame

Oh the joy of full salvation

Glory, glory to his name

I surrender all

Oh, I surrender all

All to Thee

My blessed Savior

I surrender all

Oh, I surrender all

Oh, I surrender

Ooh, yeah

What I think is a beautiful version of it on YouTube can be found here: YouTube Jacinth Studio I Surrender All Lyrics Video . 

I grew up in a home void of wealth of the monetary or loving or sanity kind. So when I heard and sang along with these lyrics, I found the song to be downright beautiful but honestly thought that it only meant I was to surrender my sins and try to be a better person (in my own strength best I could) and if I had any wealth, I was supposed to give that over, too. 

I heard a portion of this hymn recently incorporated into a worship service and remembered how much I loved it and searched for the full lyrics and a lovely choir version online. 

And, for the first time, I think I heard it. Surrender...not my own power...not my own strength.....

I decided to look up the origin. Apparently, there was a man who was artistically gifted who was a teacher to others but also passionate about Christ. Someone convinced him to become an evangelist and he was inspired to write this hymn about surrendering his whole life to Jesus that he might do Jesus' will and tell others about Jesus' great love for them. Beautiful story. 

This hymn, like the Bible, is not saying oh hey Jesus, I am going to do my best for you. It's says I am giving my everything to you...my abilities, my strengths, sure but also my weakness, my pain, my struggles, I surrender them all to you and I am going to live my life trusting you and your plan for my life. I am going to believe your word, that you died to save me to make me right with God, that you promised to send the holy spirit to guide me and that you were are working out a good plan. There is no promise of prosperity. There is no promise of lack of pain, not until we get to heaven. 

My 51 year old brain finds this hymn so much more beautiful and powerful than my child without understanding brain ever did.