Learning to Surrender

God Hears Her Podcast

Episode 169–Learning to Surrender with Tara Sun 

Elisa Morgan, Eryn Adkins & Vivian Mabuni with Tara Sun

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Tara: And so I think for anyone listening, thinking that surrender means you get the short end of the stick, we need to rewire the way we think about these things because we don’t live in the same economy. We don’t live in the same kingdom as those who don’t know Jesus. We live in a kingdom where Jesus said a lot of upside-down things that actually make a lot of sense if we live by His Word and we listen to His Word. And so it’s actually a benefit. And I think maybe, honestly, we just need to taste and see. We just need to take that step and see that God is really good to His promises.

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Vivian Mabuni: You’re listening to God Hears Her, a podcast for women, where we explore the stunning truth that God hears you. Join our community of encouraging one another and learning to lean on God through Scripture, story, and conversation at Godhearsher.org. God hears her. Seek, and she will find. 

Eryn: Tara Sun is the author of Surrender Your Story and host of the popular podcast, “Truth Talks with Tara.” She is passionate about helping women simplify what it means to live out the gospel and know love and live God’s Word through online resources on her website. Let’s get to know her.

Elisa: Okay, Eryn, sometimes when we start our conversations, I like to go, you know, submerge, submerge, submerge! We’re diving, diving deep! And guess what? This is one of those moments because I want to throw out a word. And I was talking with you off air about this word …eh… last night. And I want to tee it up…

Eryn: I’m a little nervous.

Elisa: Yeah, you should…you should be. 

Eryn: I’m a little nervous at this point.

[Laughter]

Elisa: …You should be. You should be very nervous. It’s the word “surrender.”

Eryn: Oh yes.

Elisa: What does that do to you? How does your heart respond to that word? 

Eryn: Mm. I feel like it is a very hard and yet easy thing to do. 

Elisa: Huh, love that. You got a little oxymoron going there. Yeah. Yeah. 

Eryn: It’s what is good for you, and you want what’s good for you. And sometimes you need to surrender… all the time, I feel like…

Elisa: Yeah.

Eryn: … surrender to God’s will, His plan, His presence in the circumstance. And it’s something that I feel like I’m always learning. 

Elisa: I think you hit it on the head because it is hard and easy, but it also depends who it is we’re surrendering to. Of course, you know, it makes an enormous difference. I am really glad that we’ve got Tara Sun with us. I just have a feeling God’s going to be using you. So welcome. Welcome. 

Tara: Mm. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much for having me and for your honesty about how surrender feels; because as cliche as it sounds, I think that’s honestly the first step we need to take because a lot of us just don’t even want to talk about surrender. We don’t even want to talk about how it makes us feel. We just want to like not do it or brush it under the rug. And so just to be honest with like, yeah, I don’t love that. But I know as a Christian I need to do that. I’m really grateful for that. And surrender has been a… a part of my whole life, but I’ve been so, I think, more excited about talking about it over the last couple years. And so I’m really excited to be here with you guys.

Eryn: I love that. Tara, tell me, what was it that got you to the point where you now feel like you can talk about it?

Tara: So really when … I… I can’t even remember, I mean, there’s many moments throughout my entire life of knowing Jesus that I have been called. He has called me to surrender and trust Him and stop trying to figure it all out and control all the things. There’s a couple like main things in my life. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with a chronic illness called fibromyalgia, which was really random for a 14-year-old. That was… that was over 10 years ago that I got this. And …

Elisa: Oh, that’s challenging.

Tara: So that was so out of the blue and very traumatic, honestly, because to be super frank with you, life was so easy up until then. Like everything was going well. School, I was a dancer, like friendships, and nothing hard had come my way in my faith and my relationship with Jesus until this moment. And then things started crumbling with school. Like being ill and having this chronic illness changed everything about the trajectory of my life. It changed my limitations. It changed the school I was able to go to. It changed the capacity I was able to live my life and my relationships. And so that really, 11 years ago or so, was when I realized like, okay, Lord, I had a plan for my life. And none of it was bad. None of it was sinful. And yet, because of life circumstances, it did not go that way. And so I was faced in that moment with, okay, Lord, I’m either going to trust You — right — with this, or I’m going to become bitter and I’m going to struggle and want to control. It’s either holding your hands out in release and surrender — open hands, palms up — or it’s holding your fists down in control. And I would like to say that immediately I was like, Open palms, open hands, Lord. But it was not that case. It was just years of me wrestling and questioning the goodness of God and really trying to control my way back to the life I wanted. I thought, okay, well, everything’s ruined now that I have this illness and life is different. So I’m just going to try to get back on the saddle. I’m going to try to control my way back to what I want. And ultimately it didn’t work. And the Lord was gracious with me in those moments to be patient and wait for me to come back. But I think that’s really what gave me the confidence to talk about this was years and years, I mean, 11 years of figuring out what it means to really surrender, but not just surrender. Because I think we as Christians know, like you said at the beginning, that we should surrender; but I want people to realize the beauty and the freedom that you actually experience. When you lay your life down, you get to pick up something greater. 

Elisa: How did you embrace this invitation to surrender, which seems so backwards? 

Tara: Mm-hmm. For the first time in my life, I experienced like major anxiety after dropping out of high school. And then I ended up… part of my story is I, after… after that went to go to college, but then got called home from that. So there’s just a lot of stuff with my schooling and my academic aspirations that just were really derailed. But because of that, I had so much anxiety of people, of social situations, of just school in general, after being taken out of something that I thought was going to be my norm. And so, as a result of that, it was really hard to face people, like you said, my self-image and just kind of what I thought life was going to be like. I was so afraid of people. I was so afraid of telling them where I had been or what I was going through. It was just a lot of fear of man. It was a lot of fear of what do people think about my life? And there was a lot of… I know I put it on myself. There was a lot of feeling like I’m going to let people down, my parents down, or my friends and family down who think that my life is going to be a certain way. Because if you’re a parent … which I’m a mom to a over two-year-old. I know I’m not. a veteran mom, but I’m a new mom. But I can imagine being a mom that, as much as you want your child to follow in the Lord’s will and footsteps, there is an expectation that you place sometimes, whether you verbalize it or not, of what you want your child to do or what you hope and pray for your child to do. And sometimes it doesn’t happen. And so I felt that way, like I felt bad thinking, okay, like my parents, like this is not what they signed up for. Like you just… you put all this undue pressure on yourself. And that was a long time. It was like a year or two of me having that extreme anxiety. It was just really realizing that God does not waste a moment. And I thought, okay, all I have to do is get through this. All I have to do is get through these couple of years, keep my head down, not talk to anyone. I didn’t want to grow spiritually. I was mad at God. I was just like, just gotta keep my head down…

Elisa: So honest. Yeah.

Tara: …you know, just plow through. Right? But then I realized … um, I wish I would have realized sooner, but it’s all in how God works, that God wastes nothing. And those seasons were so important to build my resilience. And also, it was a really awesome opportunity for God to be like, Hey, wrestle with Me. Like, ask Me the questions, like get to know Me more. And in that wrestling and in all of that… I mean, we’re told in Scripture that, you know, all this “produces endurance and hope and strength and character.” Like I saw that happen in my life, but only when I realized that like, God doesn’t waste this. It’s for a reason, even if I didn’t plan it; and it’s all leading up to creating a stronger, more sanctified you and also a you that knows who God is more. And I think that’s really what I learned in that… in that season. 

Elisa: Mm. Thank you. 

Eryn: Could you give some examples to what your conversations look like with God? Like the real raw, wrestling conversations. I think we can tend to shame that inner dialogue that we’re having, like we’re not allowed to go there with the Lord. So would you kind of share that? 

Tara: I was just actually thinking about this the other day. I was thinking about, you know, there’s that verse in 2 Timothy 1:7, you know, it says we’ve been given the power of, you know, “sound mind and not of fear.” And I know that’s true, but I think often we think, well, because I have that, you know, it’s … it’s wrong for me to have these feelings, or it’s wrong for me to have these emotions. And it’s not that those are wrong. They’re actually really right if we take them to the right place. Right? And if we realize that fear doesn’t have to be our future. And to be super candid, I had so many conversations with God, laying in bed, hurting, missing out on life, dropping out of college, all of these waiting periods in my life and relationships and all these things, that I literally asked God… And I mean, if you’re listening, raise your hands wherever you are: Have you ever told God, where are You? Like, I’m like, God, literally, where are you? Like You have told me — and Elisa’s raising her hand, but …

Eryn: Everyone’s raising our hands, okay?

Elisa: I see that hand. I see that hand. 

Tara: Yes! And so it was really just like, God, where are you in the midst of this? Like You promised me… like I grew up reading God’s Word. Okay? I may not know it as fully as I do now, but I grew up reading God’s Word. And I knew the general principles of what He was saying. And so I was saying, okay, God, here’s what You said to me in the Word. And it’s not lining up. So where are You? And I had this false idea that living life with God meant that life was easy and that there wasn’t very many difficulties. I was like, you know, I was like 11 or 12, 13, you know, like I was still very new and still trying to make things real and genuine in my faith and figuring all of that out. And so I asked a lot of God, where are You? I asked a lot of God, You don’t feel so good to me right now. You say You’re good. You’re good to people in the Bible. You’re good to people around me. You’re good to my peers and my parents and all these people, like life seems good to them. You’re… it doesn’t feel like You’re extending that same goodness to me. I also had a lot of conversations with God, and this one feels the most honest where I said, okay, God, well, what was wrong with my plan? Why did it not work out?

Elisa: That’s cool.

Tara: …I asked God, okay…

Elisa: Yeah.

Eryn: That’s a really good question!

Elisa: Yeah.

Tara: Right? Like. I mean, let’s just be honest, especially as Christians. I don’t think any of us genuinely set out to make a sinful plan for our lives or have a sinful dream or desire. It’s a lot of really right desires like, Lord, I want to be married. Lord, I want to have kids. Lord, I want to get a raise. Lord, I want to… you know, all these things in our lives that we want and plan and dream. But… so I was asking the Lord, I said, none of my dreams and plans for my life were bad, so what’s the deal? Why did You not make it happen? And I think that’s really what kickstarted a lot of my surrender journey was realizing that it doesn’t necessarily even matter the greatest plans that I could come up with. It could never touch the goodness and greatness of God’s purpose for my life. And that doesn’t even mean that you and I are not talented and not gifted and not loved, and that God does not care for us and care for our dreams. It’s just that He wants our obedience and our yes coupled with His divine purposes because ultimately, He’s in control. And so I think those were kind of three of the main questions and… and prayers that I had with God. Yeah. Just to be honest. 

Elisa: Those are so helpful. And, you know, if we’re not honest, Tara, where do we get? You know, so thank you. That’s… that’s what we need. I’m very struck by the metaphor that is kind of underneath our conversation. I want to pull it up and highlight it because I think it’ll help us embrace what you’re talking about even more clearly. You talked about how God invites us to wrestle with Him. And the questions that you just raised are wrestling questions. They’re like, what’s wrong with my plan? and why are You good to everybody else and not to me? And, you know, where are you God? You disappeared. Those are wrestling questions. Those are attack questions. Those are pin-you-down-on-the-mat questions. And I think about the… the Old Testament story of wrestling with God. You know, those are aggressive, I-want-to-win-my-way questions that God invites us to. And then I’m blown away by the metaphor that results of surrender, you know. And it doesn’t mean necessarily that we lose, whereas you would in a wrestling match, if you think of the story of… of wrestling and Jacob and everything. 

Tara:  Right. 

Elisa: …He actually gets blessed by God. But surrender is part of it, yielding to what feels like hurt or disappointment or not my way anymore. Talk to us more about that metaphor and how that pulls us into this concrete understanding, or more concrete understanding of God. 

Tara: Well, you know what’s interesting is that, in my research in the last couple years of my life, I realized… I think that one of the main holdups that we have, not just as Christians, but even if you’re not a Christian, just secularly, we watch movies and we read stories. And, I mean, I even just think of like… there’s one particular movie that my husband and I love. It’s, you know, it’s a war reenactment kind of movie. Surrender, waving that white flag, is a huge theme in that, and it’s a huge theme in war. It’s a huge theme in all those kinds of things. And if you actually look at what that means… It wasn’t just like, okay, we’re done fighting. Actually, waving that white flag in surrender, like I surrender, let’s stop fighting. It was a horrible thing. It wasn’t just like, okay, we can be friends. We’re done fighting. Let’s just go home. It was like the greatest act of just utter shame. It was these enemies losing their identity in a way where they were the losers. That’s who they are. Some of them even were killed. Some of them were taken prisoner. It was … For some people, they would rather die than actually surrender and be caught and be taken…

Elisa: Right. Fall on their sword. Yeah, mm-hmm. 

Tara: Exactly. And so I think it’s funny because we think of it in that way almost. We’re like, Oh, I’m waving the white flag. I’m losing out. I’m totally giving up. And so if God is asking me to surrender, then does that mean I lose everything about myself? Does that mean that He just wants …

Elisa: Oh, so good!

Tara: …a lifeless robot? Like, does He just want someone to capture? And like, it’s just kind of this weird idea, I think, that we put ourselves into, when really the narrative of surrender is actually at the heart of what it means to be a disciple. I mean, we’re told in Luke 9 23, Jesus says, if you want to be My disciples, you have to do three things, right? You have to take up your cross. You have to deny yourself, or die to yourself, and follow Me every day. And what I love about this, too, is that Jesus said this before He died. His disciples didn’t fully know… they didn’t fully know what it meant for Jesus to come and die and rise again. Jesus didn’t give them all the answers right away. I mean, I even know from Bible accounts that some of the disciples were confused when He died. Because even though He was with them and talking with them, they were a little still confused by His plan. What I love by this was that Jesus’s life was surrender, that He laid down His life so that we could live. And He didn’t just say, you know, I’m going to die and rise for My victory. He said, no, I’m going to die. I’m going to be buried, and so that way you can rise with Me. I’m laying down My life so we can win. And so this is what surrender means in the Christian life. And what’s an amazing thing, too, if you think about the timing. In Luke 9, Jesus said, you need to die to yourself. Okay. We’re focusing on the die to yourself, which is releasing personal control and surrendering. Right? Let’s focus on that part here. He said that before He died. And the disciples were probably like, What? Like why am I doing this right now? Like You’re here with me. I don’t really see a reason to do this. But I think Jesus was really preparing His disciples for when He died. He said, I’m going to do this. You need to do this. When I raise, if you actually surrender your life, you get to raise with Me too. I think it was the perfect timing for Jesus to line that up and say, here’s what I need from My true disciples. And then here’s what I’m going to give you. And so I think, for anyone listening, thinking that surrender means you get the short end of the stick, we need to rewire the way we think about these things because we don’t live in the same economy. We don’t live in the same kingdom as those who don’t know Jesus. We live in a kingdom where Jesus said a lot of upside-down things that actually make a lot of sense if we live by His Word and we listen to His Word. And so it’s actually a benefit. And I think maybe, honestly, we just need to taste and see. We just need to take that step and see that God is really good to His promises. And I think, again, that’s such a huge thing about faith. Right? You just have to take that step, and I can guarantee you, not because I’m sitting here, but because the Word of God says that you will be blessed because of it.

Eryn: That’s so good, Tara. I mean, it’s convicting, but it’s like tenderly convicting. …um… It gives hope on the other side of surrender when you believe that you are …um… getting the short end, like you said. How do you, on a day-to-day basis, apply the richness of this? And especially if you’re in a circumstance that feels all consuming?

Tara: Yeah, for sure. I would say, even just walking through kind of what I like to do in the morning, which by the way, I wrote a book on surrender. But I still can tell you four things — and it’s like not even 10 a.m. — that I already struggled to trust God with today. Right? But what I love to do is… like the first thing that I do when I wake up in the morning… And again, it’s kind of like a muscle, right? We have to train the spiritual muscle of surrender, which means you have to practice it. Just like if you were training for a marathon, just if you were working out and trying to build a habit of going to the gym or lifting weights, like we need to show up and have a little bit of a grit and a little bit of moxie and be like: You know what, Lord, I’m going to show up today. I‘m going to do it. It feels weak, but I am because I know it’s going to strengthen that muscle. And so something so simple, which I hope you guys hear, is that it’s simple and not… not as easy, but simple as straightforward. I like to describe simple as that. It’s not easy to do these things, but it can be straightforward. Right? So I just start out with a simple prayer when I wake up or when I’m brushing my teeth or washing my face for the morning. I say, okay, Lord, today’s Yours. I’m Yours. I trust You. Help me, you know, to walk in Your ways today. I even do pray, Lord, I have a plan for today. I have my planner and my calendar all laid out.

Elisa: Oh, that’s good. Yeah.

Tara: … Lord, help me to accomplish, but I don’t say “what I want today.” I say, Lord, help me to accomplish what You want me to today. And then I go about my day. And in the big things, like, you know, the hard circumstances that anyone may be walking through right now, or even just the small things, I … again, I want you to hear that surrender doesn’t mean that you throw your hands up in the air, and you let the car just drive all over the freeway. That’s irresponsible, okay. First of all, God has given you a life that you’re supposed to show up to and be obedient and live to the fullest and fulfill the Great Commission. Like you have a responsibility, and that should fire you up. But surrender means that when something does happen that is out of what you expect, or outside of what you dream or you plan, that you turn to Jesus and His sovereignty instead of control. I also like to think of it as this underlying heartbeat that your life… Or even just think about like a plant. When a plant… a plant you see above the surface, but there’s roots below. Right? I like to think that we have these roots of trust in God that keep us tethered, that no matter what happens above, that my underlying heartbeat, what keeps me steady, those roots that keep me grounded is the fact that I trust God. And the deeper your roots, the stronger your foundation, the more you’re… like you’ll be rooted and ready when those disappointments and wrenches that enter your plans come. And so to the person listening, like practically, what does this look like? I would say go about your day, your week, your month in faith and in your plans. But always have a posture of, okay, Lord, not my will, but Yours be done. If something does not go the way you thought, stop for a moment. I think that’s a huge problem in our culture. We’re way too quick to rush. We’re way too quick to make decisions without praying and asking God what He wants from it. Stop in that moment, pray and say, okay, Lord, clearly this is not going my way. What do You want me to do about it? It’s all about how we handle those twists and turns in our life. And I also would just remind people that are going through a really extremely hard thing, I think maybe you might be listening to that and think, okay, Tara, that feels practical to a day-by-day basis, but like I’m going through a diagnosis, or I’m going through a loss, or I’m going through a waiting season, and I’m mad at God. I want to tell you right now that we’re told in the Gospels, we’re told in Scripture that we have a Helper, and His name is the Holy Spirit. If you’re going to try to surrender on your own, I’m going to tell you, you’re going to fail. You’re going to fall on your face. I’ve done that so many times. You don’t have to do this on your own. You can’t produce this on your own. But you can when you lean into the Holy Spirit who is with you every single day. And I hope that gives you hope. Like knowing that this huge thing that feels hard, and our gut reaction is like, Oh, like this feels uncomfortable does not have to stay that way. Right? Because the Spirit is with you. So don’t be discouraged in the middle of your own unique circumstance because you have a Spirit who knows your own unique circumstance. 

Eryn: Mmm.

Elisa: I’m thinking of a woman, Tara, you know, who’s going to take those tips — and they’re so practical. Thank you so much because it is a mindset that we have to be very intentional about. I’m thinking about a woman in myself at times. This is me. It’s like we have to yield so powerfully to God and His Holy Spirit, but we may be facing people that we need to boldly, bravely put up boundaries with. 

Tara: Right.

Elisa: And it’s a juxtaposition of the two postures in our heart. And then in those moments after you’ve yielded, you know, surrendered to God, how do you ongoingly do that? Because a surrender to God can actually be a really strong stance in other relationships. 

Tara: Right, right. I think it’s really just holding to the line. Maybe it’s my personality. Maybe it’s just life, but I have a lot of friends. They’d call themselves people pleasers. Right? And so they… they’re afraid of people. They’re…

Elisa: There you go!

Tara: …They’re afraid of the boundaries, and I don’t know what it is. And… and maybe I fall too much on the other end, but I’m like, I literally don’t care what people think anymore. But I think what’s important to know is like, literally, all you can control — which we’re back to this control idea — all you can control is what you do and how you react and how you choose to obey God. Right? And I think that gives me hope in those circumstances with those relationships that are pressing and hard, is that it’s like, okay, Lord, help me to be as loving and as Christlike as I can, but also hold the line to what honors You. And ultimately what honors that person because speaking the truth and loving them like Christ does honor them in a way. And so I just have to remember that. And maybe that can be a practical thing to like release yourself of the pressure of like trying to be everything for everyone, and trying to be the peace when Jesus is the peace. And sometimes it doesn’t end the way you think. Just remember that what you can do is show up how you can. You can’t control the other person, but also like really take hope that like God is working behind the scenes, and He may be working in that person through your obedience. We just may not see it right now. I also just think that something huge about surrender is that sometimes like I can say, okay, Lord, I surrender, you know, this problem I’m going through right now, but you may not see the fruit tomorrow. You may not see the fruit even in two weeks or two years. But I think what we need to know is that whole idea of roots again, and the fact that “He who began a good work will bring it to completion for the day of Jesus Christ.” And I have to remember that surrender is something that is moving the spiritual needle, for lack of a better term. It’s just that we have such limited vision in life that we want to see results tomorrow and the next day. But we just need to have a little bit more of a perspective and ask Jesus for that perspective. Because again, it’s not going to always be that instant result, but like it is going to be something that sanctifies you and carries you. I really believe it — and carries you into heaven, you know, through eternity. 

Elisa: So Tara, today, as you look at your life, I’m curious. What is your work today? And are your parents proud of you? You know, you… you went through this initial disappointment and grief of losing what you had hoped to accomplish. And …um… tell us about your now. 

Tara: Yeah, my now. Yeah, cause we’ve been talking a lot about the last 11 years, but my now looks extremely different than I ever thought it would. My plan was that I was going to go to medical school, either be a doctor or maybe like be a nurse and, you know, skip medical school, but something in the medical field. I was dating my husband in high school. I’m like, we’re going to get married once I’m done with school, you know, all the things. I had all the ducks in a row. We’re going to live here and do this and have kids at this time. And we ended up getting married a little — not later. We were very young when we got married — but I just had all these plans. We ended up getting married at a different time than I thought. I am not in the medical field. I am, you know, I have a podcast. I’m writing books for women. I’m in ministry. Like it’s funny, my… Not that people didn’t, you know, think that I was gifted or love the Lord, but everyone was like, your brother’s going to be the pastor. And I’m like, yeah, he’s going to be the one in ministry, like, I’m not. I’m going to be the one, you know, in the medical field. And so it’s just really not what I thought life was going to be. And then about four months into marriage, my husband and I are like, Oh, surprise! Our little son is on the way. So we had a little baby surprise, you know, about, honestly, a little over a year after we got married. He was… he was the greatest surprise, but honestly, like we truly would never change it …um… in that way. And my parents… I love my parents. They’re my best friends. And they would tell you that they are the most proud and the most grateful for what I’m doing. And so it’s just really funny, and I say that because it wasn’t always that way. And if you would have asked me three years ago if I was initially excited that I was having a baby earlier than I thought, I probably would have told you, maybe not. Like, just truthfully, like there was a lot of things that happened in the moment that I was not excited about, but I look back now and I see exactly that God had His hand in it. And we’re experiencing so much joy out of what we’re doing. And I get to be home with my sweet babe. So it’s just… it’s been really sweet, and I’m grateful for the now. And I think even like the good stuff… like I think we talk about surrendering the hard stuff, but also it’s even surrendering the good stuff and the timeline of the good stuff in your life. And so, I mean, it’s not without its challenges, but I’m… but I’m grateful. 

Eryn: The timeline, I feel like that’s so hard to surrender. 

Tara: It is. I mean, again, like we have all these ideas of the timing, and we… I think comparison plays a huge role. I don’t know if you can agree, Eryn. I feel like we look at other people’s lives, and we look at social media and we think, well, I want this, and so it should come now. Or I’m in my twenties. I should be married. Or look at them. They’re in their thirties and building a house. I should be doing that. Like we just look at all this stuff. And so then our timeline gets warped, and we start to base it off other people instead of just trusting God about it. Right?

Eryn: Tara, if I’m going to be really vulnerable. In the last 24 hours, it’s been so hard. And I, this word “surrender” is just… It’s like right there in front of my face. Oh, I just feel almost like I’ve had those questions of like, God, where are You in this? Like, have You heard my prayers for the last couple of years in this circumstance? And then I’m like, begging to try to find where He is in it. And I don’t think I’m alone at all. And…

Elisa: Pretty sure you’re not. 

Eryn: … I’m imagining that there’s a woman that probably is wrestling with that too. Would you pray over her? 

Tara: Yeah. 

Eryn: Would you pray over us as we are all in some form or fashion in this season of figuring out how to surrender?

Tara: Yeah. I’d love to. You’re so right, Eryn, like none of us are exempt from this. I think we can all name at least two things that we’re struggling to surrender with, big or small. So yeah, I’d love to pray over us. Dear Jesus, thank You so much for this day, for this episode, for this conversation. Thank You for every single woman listening and joining us today. Lord, You see us, and You know us exactly where we are, exactly with our hurts, exactly with our disappointments, the dreams and desires that we have on our hearts, and even the dreams and desires that You’ve placed on our hearts. Lord, You know us and You love us. I just hope and pray that the woman listening knows that first and foremost, that You see her and that You hear her and that You care about her and that the things that are not going the way that she would plan or desire is not a direct reflection of how You care for her, because You love her despite that. And You’re the one who wants to come and redeem the hurt that is going on in her life. I pray that You would meet her in her brokenness, meet her in her questioning, meet her in the wrestling that she may be having. And I pray that You would just give her a revelation of who You are. Give her a revelation of Your character. Lord, remind us that You are truly good, that You are truly loving, that You are truly merciful and gracious, and that You have a great plan for our lives and a great trajectory for our stories. The enemy would love for us to think that that is not the case. I pray that You would help all of the lies in our hearts to be silenced. I pray that You would give us the boldness and the courage to not let up, to continue seeking Your face, to continue praying, to continue practicing and strengthening that spiritual muscle of surrender. And I also just pray that You would help us to see the fruit, help us to see the blessing of that so that we can keep going, to give us a little signpost to continue on this journey of surrender and sanctification and just to really see that it is worth it. We love You, Lord, so much. We trust You. In your name, Amen.

[Theme music]

Elisa: Surrendering control can be so hard. Thanks again to Tara for sharing her story with us and talking through why it’s important to surrender things to God. 

Eryn: Yes. Thank you so much, Tara. That closing prayer was just what my soul needed. 

Elisa: Before we go, be sure to check out our show notes for a link to Tara’s website. You can find that and more at GodHearsHer.org. That’s GodHearsHer.org. 

Eryn: And if you liked this episode or you’ve been listening to the show for a bit, please leave us a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. We’d love to hear from you. 

Elisa: Thanks for joining us and don’t forget. God hears you. He sees you, and He loves you because you are His. 

Eryn: Today’s episode was engineered by Anne Stevens and produced by Jade Gustman and Mary Jo Clark. We also want to thank LaMaria and Ryan for all their help and support. Thanks everyone. 

Elisa: Our Daily Bread Ministries is a donor supported, nonprofit ministry dedicated to making the life changing wisdom and stories of the Bible come alive for all people around the world.

[ODB Theme]

Elisa: God Hears Her is a production of Our Daily Bread Ministries.