Surrender Season Series: Pt 3 The Pathway to Growth

Nicole Joseph-Chin

Sometimes, we have multiple notions of what growth looks and feels like and these very notions can sometimes lead to disappointments in many ways.

Editing our concept of growth has many benefits and some of them may also look a little contrary to what we have practised all our lives, or contrary to what we have been taught in the theoretical world.

Surrender has a very clever way of bringing us back to our centre but even more importantly, surrender has a very interesting part to play in being one of our greatest allies and catalysts to our growth.

In a very personal experience many years ago, one of the key lessons was that there was going to be time to get things done and once things were done in the allotted time, we would have lots of spare time to get other activities completed.

Well, that was until there was one resource short for a particular activity and we had to find a way—and in finding a way, we also found ourselves learning to ask for help.

Many people will attest to being good at being helpers and support for others but when it comes to asking for help, a brick wall becomes built between the need and the request, thus leaving limitations in the ways that issues can be addressed or problems resolved in a timely manner.

Matthew 7:7 always comes to mind when there is a need to ask for help and it is a comforting reminder that we have been given the tools and accessories to make things happen.
And so, this is where practising the art of surrender is one of the best ways to come to a place of comfort when asking for help.

In that very situation, there were a few options and the one that was the most practical was asking for help.

Making that call with a request is sometimes the thing we hesitate the most to do and so, with every ounce of courage, that call was made amid a surrender moment and the response was one of not only immediate willingness to be of help, but an offer to truly support a longer and more meaningful outcome.

Our growth gets challenged by our fears of rejection, our fears of inadequacy and our fears of being thought lesser of, and in these times, we can ask, “what would Jesus do?”.

The next time we feel that sense of fear or hesitation when there is a need to surrender our way through growth, it is a great time to ask ourselves: ‘are we ready to surrender to the growth we seek and the power of asking for help?’.

Are you ready to surrender?

Nicole Joseph-Chin is the author of Ready to Surrender – “A pocket book of peace, power and purpose”