Surrender Is Not Weakness, It Is Strength

Chad Dupin
Apr 26
3 min read

Why is life so hard at times?

It is a question most of us ask, whether we say it out loud or just lie awake thinking about it in the middle of the night.

We have all been there.

It is easy to point back to Adam and Eve and think everything went sideways with one decision. But if we are honest, the struggle did not stay in the garden. It shows up in us every day.

We all wrestle with sin.

We want control. We want the easier path, not always the right one. We avoid hard conversations. We soften the truth. We hold onto things we were never meant to carry.

And at the center of it all, we struggle with surrender.

We say we trust God, but often only partially. Maybe we give Him part of our lives, but hold tightly to the rest. Our plans. Our reputation. Our timeline. Our comfort.

But God is not asking for part of us. He is asking for all of us.

Where This Is Showing Up

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been walking through The Purpose Driven Life with a group of guys from Seven24.

Fifteen men, all in different seasons of life, but asking a lot of the same questions.

One theme keeps rising to the surface.

Surrender.

Not the kind of surrender that feels like giving up. The kind that requires trust. The kind that forces you to let go of control and believe that God’s way is better than your own.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5–6

That sounds simple.

It is not.

Why This Is So Hard for Men

Let’s be real. Most of us were not raised to surrender. We were taught to lead. To fix. To push through. To take responsibility. To carry the weight.

And those are not bad things. In fact, they are part of how we are wired. But somewhere along the way, that wiring can turn into something else.

We start believing that everything depends on us. That we have to figure it out.

That asking for help or letting go is a sign of weakness. So when God calls us to surrender, it feels backward.

But in God’s economy, strength looks different.

Strength is not always pushing harder. Sometimes it is trusting deeper.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

What Surrender Actually Means

Surrender is often misunderstood.

It is not passive. It is not checking out. It is not saying, “Whatever happens, happens.”

Surrender is active.

It is choosing obedience when it would be easier not to. It tells the truth even when it would be more convenient to stay quiet. It is stepping into something uncomfortable because you believe God is leading you there.

It takes courage.

As C. S. Lewis said, “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become, because He made us.”

That line hits. Because most of us are trying to become something we were never designed to be by holding onto control.

You Are Already Surrendering to Something

Here is the part that is easy to miss.

Everyone surrenders to something.

If it is not God, it will be something else.

Approval. Money. Success. Comfort. Control. Fear. Pride.

We give our time, energy, and attention to something every day. The question is not if you are surrendering. The question is what you are surrendering to.

And if we are honest, a lot of what we surrender to does not lead to peace.

The Invitation

This is not easy.

It is daily. It is ongoing. It is a process.

But if God is going to do deeper work in your life, it starts here.

Surrender.

Not all at once. But one step at a time.

Your past. Your mistakes. Your current challenges. Your fears. Your plans. Your future. What is one thing you are holding onto right now that God is asking you to release? Start there.