Surrender Kate Motaung says. Not knowing what to write, I looked it up in the dictionary. The definition of surrender according to Merriam Webster, “to give up after a struggle”. The obvious one we struggle with, in this case, would be God. So I look up Bible verses because none immediately come to mind. Why is it that my mind blanks when I see these words sometimes? I struggle to figure out what to write more than half of the time and sometimes the very times when I am having the most trouble I write some of my best work.

It is difficult to really and truly surrender to anyone, even God.

Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7-9 GOD’S WORD Translation

I have done that, so many years ago I lost count. I know it was before I had kids. I know it came about because I was reading inspirational fiction. A group of us were consuming the text written by the author, Janette Oke. More than likely, it was one of the first books in her “Love Comes Softly” series, since that was my introduction to inspirational fiction books. It was probably about this same time that I realized what a huge impact reading a book could have on a person.

I didn’t know it then, but that was probably the first time I found myself wishing I could write like that and change lives, move readers to tears, spur them into action. I was so grateful to a wonderful little lady I worked with named Barb who was a school teacher by day and a clerk in a fabric store by night to make ends meet. She had the whole series of books and loaned them to us all willingly. We would come to work having finished a book and asking who had the next one in the series because we were hooked. We wanted to know what happened to the characters next. We wanted to read more of the verses scattered through the books at just the right places and times. These books didn’t cram religion down our throats, they didn’t preach. They merely showed us how a life with God could be so much better than one without Him.

So I surrendered to Him and because I know I have a hard time truly giving up every last worry in my head, I have surrendered various parts of my life over and over through the years. The song “Jesus Take The Wheel” popped into my head just now and I thought, yes, it is just like that. Sometimes I want to shout out for God to take away all my worries and my doubts and my confusion. Take it so I can be relieved of the burden of it all.

So I find myself at that point again where I surrender, my writing this time. I have felt driven to write for the past five or six years. I just know I am meant to write a book. I am uncertain what sort of book or genre it is supposed to be, but the feeling never waivers. I try to do my part, reading craft books, taking classes to learn to write better so someday when I understand what it is I am meant to write, I will have the skills needed to do a decent job of it and glorify God in the process. I started blogging more seriously as a way to turn my November writing habit into a year-round writing habit and I have done that. I surrender my writing to God. If I am meant to write a book then it will come to me and I will write it when it does. Until then, I must trust in God to lead me to the right resources and teachers and have the confidence that the ability will be there when I need it.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Surrender
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.