The Formation of a Surrendered Will

God is not impressed by what we can do for Him apart from surrender. He is drawn to a heart that wants Him above all else. Many know much about God, yet remain unchanged because their will has never been yielded. The issue has never been information; it has always been ownership. Who owns the will?

The human will does not arrive at surrender in a single moment. It is shaped slowly, patiently, and deliberately. Little by little, the soul learns to conform—not forcefully, but willingly—to what God desires. This conformity cannot be partial. Reservation always leaves the will divided, and a divided will cannot know rest. Peace does not come from managing obedience; it comes from yielding without conditions.

Our will, by nature, is weak. It is shaped by fear, comfort, habit, and self-preservation. God’s will, by contrast, is all-powerful, perfect, and eternal. When the weaker will resists the stronger, the soul lives in tension. But when the weak will is brought into alignment with God’s will, something miraculous occurs. 2 Corinthians 12:9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Striving gives way to His strength, and rest. Anxiety gives way to peace. Restlessness gives way to joy that does not depend on circumstances.

Here, in this place of alignment, the soul discovers an inexhaustible and never-ending peace. Not because life has become easy, but because the will has stopped fighting God. Joy begins to flow not from outcomes, but from union.

As surrender deepens, vision changes. The surrendered soul learns to adore, praise, and bless God in everything. Not just in answered prayers, but in unanswered ones. Not just in deliverance, but in delay. God is no longer sought only in moments of relief; He is recognized in all things. Life is no longer divided into sacred and secular, good and bad, success and failure. Everything becomes a place of encounter.

For the one who truly loves God, nothing remains truly evil in the same way. This does not deny pain or suffering; it redeems it. God even uses the most terrible sufferings to work for good—not because suffering is good in itself, but because love transforms what suffering produces. The trials God uses to purify the heart cannot rightly be called evil when they lead the soul closer to Him.

Trouble becomes a servant instead of a master. It strips away illusions, exposes false dependencies, humbles pride, and draws the heart into deeper trust. The surrendered soul learns to ask a different question—not “Why is this happening?” but “What is this accomplishing in me?” In this way, suffering loses its power to destroy and becomes an instrument of formation.

Many want to serve God—but only under certain conditions. They will obey if the path feels safe, familiar, or rewarding. But this is still serving God in one’s own way. True worship begins where conditions end. To place no limits on submission to God is to truly die to oneself. This death is not despair; it is freedom. It is the release of control that finally allows God to reign fully within.

This is how to worship God—not merely with words, emotion, or activity, but with a will that has been fully yielded. When nothing is withheld, nothing remains restless. The soul that has surrendered its will discovers that what it feared losing was never life at all. True life begins where self-rule ends.

In surrender, the will no longer resists God. It rests in Him. And in that rest, virtue grows, peace abides, joy overflows, and worship becomes a way of being—not merely a thing we do.