Success Is In The Surrender

I recently read a biography of the life of Elisabeth Elliot. I find her story fascinating. Many of you may know her story. She and her husband, Jim, were missionaries in Ecuador in the 1950s. They lived in the jungle near a remote tribe. Jim and some fellow missionaries were killed by the tribe when they tried to meet them. Elisabeth and her infant daughter continued to live in Ecuador for years after he died. She ended up living in the village with the tribe that killed her husband, sharing the gospel with them and working to learn their language so she could translate the Bible for them. It’s a marvelous story of perseverance, sacrifice, and forgiveness. Their story has been told in several books and movies.

But one thing that intrigued me from Elisabeth’s biography was about a novel that she wrote not long after moving back to the States called No Graven Image. It’s the story of a young missionary woman working in South America. This young woman’s story is a fictional telling of many of the lessons Elisabeth learned from her time on the mission field.

The book ends with the young missionary woman crushed that all of her work seems like it was for nothing. She worked for years on Bible translation to reach an indigenous people group, but the one person who could help her complete the work died in an accident — and all of her materials were destroyed. She had nothing to show for her time on the mission field. She ends the book by saying:

“God, if He was merely my accomplice, had betrayed me. If, on the other hand, He was God, He had freed me.”

The book was not well received by most American Christians. They thought it was a sad ending and questioned if Elisabeth Elliot truly believed in God. But it’s a remarkable ending when you really step back and evaluate it.

I think she’s saying that she broke free from the idolatry of control and of working to earn God’s favor by orchestrating her own success story. If God is just our accomplice, that would mean He is our “co-worker” and just our partner in our suffering — along for the ride. If He is that, we would have every right to be bitter or mad at our circumstances. It would make sense to feel like a failure.

But if He is God, then we can be free. Free to worship the Sovereign God no matter what is happening around us, even if we’re failing by earthly standards. Our success is not in the details of our story or having all of the answers, but in knowing God and trusting Him. Our success is measured by our surrender.

There are many days in ministry that can make you feel like a failure. You wonder why there aren’t more people attending your church. You compare your ministry to others, and wonder why they seem more successful. You feel like you are continually teaching and pointing people toward Christ, but they are not responding. You feel like you are constantly working, but don’t feel like you have a lot to show for it. These are the days when we must fight through and walk in freedom.

When things are going well and it can be tempting to give ourselves a big pat on the back, we must also remember that God is in charge of the outcome and all glory should go to Him, and not ourselves.

This idea of success and surrender has been rolling around in my head for months. I’ve realized more and more how little control I have of things in my life. There are so many times I just want to sit and say to God, “But why?!” And then I think about surrender. I can’t see the big picture like God can. I don’t always know what He is refining in me at that moment. But as Paul tells us in Romans, God is using our trials to produce perseverance, character, and hope in us. It’s a hope that does not disappoint. It’s a hope rooted in God’s love (Romans 5:3–5).

This month, as we honor pastors and ministry leaders, I want to encourage you to press on. Persevere in obedience. Don’t get bogged down in the world of what-ifs and whys. Live each day surrendering to the story that God has laid out for you. Worship in freedom in the midst of the chaos of this world, knowing that God sees you, knows you, and will carry you through.

Dwell on these well-known words from Isaiah 40:28–31:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”

Melissa Busby serves in the women’s, youth, and children’s ministries at South Shore Baptist Church in Hingham, MA, where her husband serves as senior pastor.