Strength in Surrender
Wednesday in Holy Week
Reflection By Robbin Brent
Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.
- Luke 22:42
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus brought his whole, honest self to God—pleading for the cup of suffering to pass him by, yet ultimately entrusting himself to God’s will.
Sometimes we equate surrender with weakness or passivity. But Jesus shows us that surrender requires immense strength—the strength to acknowledge our own limitations, to ask for help, to let go of control. Surrendering to God is not about giving up, but about entrusting ourselves to a Love that is greater than our own understanding.
Thomas Merton knew this well. “My Lord God,” he prayed, “I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.” Merton’s prayer reminds us that surrender doesn’t require certainty or understanding. It requires only our willingness to listen and respond—even, and perhaps especially, when we cannot see the path forward.
Like the disciples who fled in fear but returned to the upper room, we too can find our way back to faithfulness even after being tempted to resist or flee. We can draw on strength from our relationship with God, and from the community that journeys with us. When we feel weak and broken, we can lean into the One who knows our frailty and yet calls us beloved. In our surrender, we find we are held in the arms of God’s unending love.
Making It Personal: What burdens do you need to surrender to God this Holy Week? How might letting go be an act of strength and faithfulness? Can you think of a time when surrendering to love required great courage and strength? What would it look like to bring your whole, honest self to God this week, just as Jesus did in the Garden?