How to Surrender to God and Move Forward

Have you ever been in this situation where it has just been unjust or unfair?

You’ve set boundaries, you’ve forgiven, you’ve surrendered to God. And yet you still felt like you wanted to see God’s justice.

I have been in that situation and as I dealt with this in my prayer time, God showed me again that I needed to surrender to Him not only the situation, but how I felt He should deal with it.

In my own situation, I was forgiving, but the situation continued and even got worse.

I came to a place where I sat before God with tears in my eyes, and I said, “God, I am tired of forgiving this person over and over. I’m tired of them acting in these unjust ways. Even when we’ve set boundaries, they continue in what they’re doing.”

“Where is the justice?”

And in that place of me wanting justice, God showed me a few things.

It May Look Different Than You Think

The first thing He showed me is that justice may look different than I think it should.

Isaiah 55:8 says:

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord (NKJV)

What If It Did Happen Today?

Another thing that the Lord showed me is that even if justice came today, even if it happened so swiftly, it doesn’t erase what happened to you.

So many times we can think, if this person would just pay for what they did, then I could move on. If this person would finally realize how they’ve hurt me, if they finally would realize what they’ve done, then I could move on

Yet, even if God did strike them with a lightning bolt today, it would not erase what happened to you.

Dear sister, I can’t begin to give the answers of why horrible things happen or why we have walked through some of the things we have.

But what I do know is that we can come to our Father in Heaven through Jesus Christ, and we can lay at His feet what has happened to us. We can surrender to God what happened and ask Him to heal us.

When you surrender to God what happened to you, you are trusting that He is a God of justice.

Romans 12:19 says:

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. (NKJV)

Surrender to God and Have Boundaries

When you surrender to God what happened, and you choose to forgive the person who hurt you, know that forgiveness does not mean you don’t have boundaries or let people in to abuse you again.

You forgive, leaving what that person did in God’s hands, trusting God to deal with them and to heal you.

You don’t hold on to the grudge or wait for them to pay for what they’ve done before you move on. But you do set boundaries so that they cannot hurt you again.

Surrender to God What You Wanted

And you surrender to God what you wanted.

In the situation that happened with me, there was something that I wanted.

This person had a title that meant that they should have been very different from what they were. And I wanted what they should have been. So I had to surrender to God what I wanted.

I wanted this person to be something that they were not, and I had to accept that they were what they were.

Leave, what you wanted in God’s hands and ask Him to put people in your life who will be that type of person for you, even if they don’t hold the title of that person.

Surrender to God How Justice Comes

Surrender how you want God to dispense justice as well.

So many times, we can be like, Oh, I can’t wait till God gets them!

But surrender that.

Tell God, “Lord, I surrender even how You dispense justice for that person. I leave it and I surrender that into Your hands.”

The Example of Saul

Something I thought of while I was getting ready for this podcast is Saul.

He killed Christians.

In Acts 6-8 we can see him consenting to the stoning of Stephen.

But in Acts 9, Jesus meets Saul on the road to Damascus.

And later in the chapter, he preaches Christ, the very Christ that he was persecuting Christians for earlier.

So dear sister, we don’t know what God wants to do in people’s lives.

Hopefully this side of heaven, they will come to their senses and let Jesus work in their hearts, because that’s what God really wants.

First Timothy 2:4 says:

who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (NIV)

So dear sister, we don’t know what God wants to do in people’s lives.

They could come to the knowledge of the truth and change their ways.

But we know that if they don’t in the end, they will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Second Corinthians 5:10 says:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (NIV).

Whether We See It or Not

God is a God of justice, and we may not see what He’s doing right away.

He may be doing things behind the scenes, and we may see it this side of Heaven or on the other side of Heaven.

But our, responsibility is to surrender to God what happened to us, and ask Him to heal. Because if we don’t, if we say, I can’t move on until they come around, you might never move on.

You might never move on.

What You Can Do

Walk in forgiveness and set those boundaries.

If someone’s being hurt or you’re being hurt, notify the authorities.

Don’t let what that person did to you keep you stuck in a place of never moving forward, of never walking out the purposes of God for you, because God has got a purpose for you.

He’s got more for you than what happened to you.

If you continue to wait for them to pay for what they did, you might never move forward. Know that justice will come because God is a God of justice.

And what it looks like for that person is between them and God. We are not their judge. And that’s another thing that I had to surrender with this person.

I am not their judge.

What happens to them is not between me and them. It is between God and them.

God is a God of Justice

And I want to leave you with this verse.

Isaiah 30:18 says:

For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him! (NIV)

Don’t Wait But Surrender to God

Don’t wait for that other person to receive their justice.

Wait before the Lord, live for Him.

Do what He says and forgive, not for that person, but for you.

You can surrender to God the things that they did to you and invite the Lord in to begin the healing work in you.

But How Do I Surrender to God?

I just want to say how you can surrender.

If you don’t know how to surrender, what happened to you, let me give you how I have done it.

I raise my hands to heaven. I raise my hands up because it’s just a physical thing that represents what I’m doing spiritually.

You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. If you’re not comfortable, that’s fine. It’s just what I have done.

I picture myself holding this stuff, this stuff that I have been angry about, this stuff that has been done to me, I hold it up to heaven.

Then I turn my hands over and I wiggle my hands, and let those things fall from my hands into God’s hands.

And I say, “Lord, I surrender this to You. It is Your burden and not mine.”

And I surrender to God this way however many times I need to do it a day.

Every time a thought comes, I say it again, “Lord, I surrender this to You.”

Can I Pray for You Today?

Father God, where my sister in Christ has been stuck, help her move forward. Help her to surrender what happened to her, into Your hands.

Help her to know that you are a God of justice and whether she sees Your justice this side of Heaven or on the other side, help her know that no matter when it comes, it is coming.

Lord, I pray that You would bring her to a place where she can pray for her enemies. Not all of us are there, but it is your commandment. So, Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus that You would bring my dear sister to a place where she can offer up a prayer for the person who hurt her, and ask You, Father to work in their lives.

Help her father, to lay at Your feet what happened to her and surrender it to You. Heal my sister’s heart from all the pain and heartache that has been caused in her life. Help her to grow in setting boundaries and put people around her that would help her to heal. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.