One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime. Nor is surrender to the will of God (per se) adequate to fullness of power in Christ. Maturity is the accomplishment of years, and I can only surrender to the will of God as I know what that will is.
Interpretation
True surrender takes time and understanding, and it requires a deep connection with one's faith.
In this quote, Elisabeth Elliot emphasizes that the act of surrendering one's life to a higher purpose or the will of God is not a singular, instantaneous event but a gradual process that unfolds over a lifetime. Maturity and a true understanding of this surrender come through years of experience and relationship with one's faith, suggesting that one must grow to comprehend God's will fully before they can surrender to it genuinely.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a spiritual retreat to inspire attendees to reflect on the journey of faith.
We are not asked to SEE," said Amy. "Why need we when we KNOW?" We know--not the answer to the inevitable Why, but the incontestable fact that it is for the best. "It is an irreparable loss, but is it faith at all if it is 'hard to trust' when things are entirely bewildering?
Prayer lays hold of God's plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit's prayer.
What sort of world might it have been if Eve had refused the servants offer and had said to him instead, “let me not be like God. Let me be what I was made to be - let me be a woman'?
Worship is not an experience. Worship is an act, and this takes discipline. We are to worship ''in spirit and in truth.'' Never mind about the feelings. We are to worship in spite of them.
Restlessness and impatience change nothing except our peace and joy. Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands.
If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd.
Ideology... is a kind of contemporary mythology, a realm which has purged itself of ambiguity and alternative possibility.
Ah, the prayers of the millions, how they must fight and destroy each other on their way to the throne of God.
When a daffadill I see, Hanging down his head towards me, Guess I may, what I must be: First, I shall decline my head; Secondly, I shall be dead: Lastly, safely buryed.
A man may acquire a taste for wine or brandy, and so lose his love for water, but should we not pity him.
The present urgency is to begin thinking within the context of the whole planet, the integral earth community with all its human and other-than-human components.
The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.
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