‘The only reason to fear surrendering your life to God is if you believe that you have a better plan’ (Esther Maria Magnis).
In reality, refusing to surrender completely to the One who gave us life is contrary to both our faith and reason. Anyone who has experienced God’s infinite goodness should want to remain in His open heart forever, out of love and conviction.
So what is the obstacle?
The quote we heard today from Esther Maria Magnis points to man’s deeply rooted tendency towards self-determination. Perhaps he is not aware of it; perhaps he is very pious and would resist being told that he has not yet surrendered his whole life to God. He may even belong to a religious order, which should presuppose such surrender. Nevertheless, he still holds the reins of his life in his own hands, failing to take the decisive step of total surrender to God that is necessary for the life of grace to unfold fully.
Without realising it, one continues to want to decide the important things in life oneself, instead of leaving them in God’s hands. Perhaps a subtle mistrust comes into play here: that God may not guide our lives as we wish. Therefore, we do not want to take the risk. How sad!
Our Father will deeply regret this attitude, but He will not force anyone to take this step. He makes it easy for us to abandon ourselves into His hands, but if we do not respond, there will always be a certain emptiness. If a person is not aware of this, they will always have to find solutions to every situation themselves. God will certainly not abandon them, but His grace will not sustain them in the same way as if they had surrendered to Him unconditionally.
God has the best plan! We discover this when we give Him our “yes” and trust Him completely.