The Power Of Surrender: The Power Series

By Joshua Rhoades

There comes a moment when trying harder only deepens the ache, when clinging tighter shatters what remains, and when running faster still leaves the heart lost and hollow. It is in that sacred, broken place where the soul finally whispers, "I surrender." In God's eyes, surrender is not weakness—it is the birthplace of strength. It is where trust silences fear, and faith releases the burden into the hands of the Savior. Scripture overflows with such moments—Abraham raising the knife, Moses returning to Egypt, Esther standing before the king, and Jesus kneeling in Gethsemane, saying, "Not my will, but thine, be done." These were not endings. They were beginnings. James 4:7 calls us to surrender, reminding us that when we submit, the devil flees and God takes over. He does not ask us to be strong—He asks us to be still, to let go, and to let Him work. This is the power of surrender.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joshua Paul Rhoades
• Release date: Jun 10, 2025
• ISBN: 9798231309658

Book preview

1

WHEN LETTING GO BECOMES THE STRONGEST THING YOU CAN DO

There comes a time in every believer’s life when holding on feels easier than letting go, when the fear of releasing control weighs more than the burden of carrying what we were never meant to hold. We think strength means gripping tighter, pushing harder, and standing taller. But God often teaches us that the strongest move we can make is to fall to our knees, open our hands, and surrender what we cannot fix. Letting go is not giving up. Letting go is giving in—to the One who already holds the end from the beginning. We spend so much of our lives trying to plan, manage, and protect everything. We want to know the outcome before we take the first step. But surrender does not work that way. Surrender says, Lord, I do not see it all, but I trust You through it all. And that trust becomes the bridge between our weakness and God’s power.

---

In Scripture, we see this over and over again. Abraham had to surrender Isaac before the Lord provided the ram. Moses had to let go of Egypt before God could use him in the wilderness. Hannah had to surrender her pain before God opened her womb. Even Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, said, Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. That prayer of surrender broke the gates of redemption wide open for all of us. Surrender is not weakness. It is worship. It is the heart posture that says, God, You are better at being God than I am. When we surrender, we do not lose. We gain. We gain peace in the storm, joy in the sorrow, and purpose in the waiting.

---

The Bible says in James 4:7, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Submission is the first step. It is hard. It is humbling. It goes against everything in us that wants to fix it ourselves. But when we lay our lives before the Lord, we find that His plan is better, His timing is perfect, and His grace is enough. We no longer carry the pressure of being the Savior of our own story. That weight belongs to Jesus. And He is strong enough to carry it all. Surrender breaks the cycle of striving and invites us into the rest of trusting. We begin to see that we are not losing control. We are placing control into the safest hands.

---

If your life feels heavy right now, maybe it is not because God is asking you to carry more. Maybe He is asking you to carry less. Maybe He is waiting for you to lay it down. The fear, the bitterness, the unknown future, the broken relationship, the unmet dream—all of it. He does not need you to fix it. He wants you to give it. The altar is still open. The Father is still listening. And surrender is still the most powerful way forward. When you let go, God takes over. And when God takes over, miracles begin to move.

2

SURRENDER AT THE CROSS: WHERE SELF DIES AND GRACE BEGINS

At the foot of the cross, everything changes. The cross is not just where Jesus died. It is where self must die too. When you stand there and look at the blood-stained wood, you are not only seeing the price that Jesus paid for sin. You are standing at the doorway of surrender. No one can cling to their own strength, pride, or plans and still cling to the cross. When Jesus said, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me, He was not calling for a part-time belief or a casual kind of commitment. He was calling for a total surrender. This kind of surrender lays everything down and holds nothing back. It is here, at this sacred place where blood dripped and love poured, that we see most clearly that our way cannot save us. Our will cannot sustain us. Our works will never be enough. Grace begins where self ends. The moment we stop trying to earn, to control, to impress, to prove, or to perform is the moment the Savior’s hands reach out and lift the weight off our shoulders. Calvary was never meant to be admired from afar. It was meant to be approached with knees bent and hearts broken. When we fall at the cross, we do not fall in defeat. We fall into the arms of mercy that do not push us away but pull us close. The cross is the proof that God would rather die than live without us. Yet so many try to live for Him without dying to self. That cannot be done. Resurrection power always comes after crucifixion surrender. When you finally say, Lord, I give You everything, you are not losing your identity. You are finding it. You find it not in what you do or who you impress. You find it in who He is and what He already did. The cross is not a symbol of weakness. It is a picture of victory through surrender. Paul said in Galatians 2:20, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. This is the beautiful exchange that happens when we surrender at the cross. We give our sin for His salvation. We give our shame for His grace. We give our striving for His peace. We give our emptiness for His fullness. When you lay your self-life down, the Spirit-life begins to rise. The bitterness that once gripped your heart begins to fade. The chains that once held you tight begin to fall. The voice that once said, You are not enough, is silenced by the cry that echoed through eternity, It is finished. That cry was not a sigh of defeat. It was a shout of victory. Jesus knew that the way to win your heart was not through force but through sacrifice. Now He invites you to come—not with your strength, but with your surrender. The gospel is not about making bad people good. It is about making dead people alive. That only happens through death to self. When you come to the cross, you do not bring your resume, your excuses, or your defenses. You bring your brokenness, your sin, your burden, and your need. The Lamb of God does not turn you away. He welcomes you in. He does not welcome you because you are worthy. He welcomes you because He is. From that place of humility and surrender, grace begins to rise like the morning sun after a long night. You realize that God never asked you to be enough. He asked you to surrender to the One who is. That is why the ground at the foot of the cross is level. Every heart, no matter how broken or proud, must bow there to be healed. If you are tired of carrying the weight of self, of chasing approval, of fearing failure, of pretending to be okay, then come to the cross and surrender. When self dies, grace begins. Grace does not ask you to be perfect. Grace asks you to trust the One who is. That trust changes everything. Now you live not by your own power, but by His. The anger that once burned so hot becomes peace. The fear that once shouted so loud becomes still. The questions that once haunted you are quieted in the presence of a God who knows all, sees all, and still loves you. You learn that the secret to peace is not getting your way. It is laying your way down and saying, Lord, not my will, but thine, be done. In that place, worship is born. Worship is not just in a song. It is in a surrendered life. You begin to understand that surrender is not something you do once. It is something you wake up and choose every single day. Every time you do, you are picking up your cross and following Jesus. You follow not just in the easy moments, but in the hard ones, the confusing ones, and the painful ones. You begin to see that every act of surrender becomes a seed planted in the soil of obedience that grows into something eternal. When the world tells you that surrender is weakness, the cross reminds you that surrender is strength. Jesus, in all His power, chose the path of submission. Through that path, He conquered death, hell, and the grave. If He could surrender to the Father’s will for the joy set before Him, then so can we. We are not surrendering to a cruel master. We are surrendering to a loving Father who has never failed, never changed, and never walked away. As you let go of your way, you begin to walk in His. You realize that the life you gain through surrender is so much better than the one you tried to build on your own. It is no longer filled with pressure to perform, but with the peace of His presence. It is no longer about who you are trying to be, but about who He is in you. From that place, your prayers become deeper. Your worship becomes richer. Your joy becomes stronger. Grace flows best through surrendered hearts. The cross is the fountain where that grace never runs dry. If today you are holding tightly to something you know God is asking you to release—a dream,