Real Transformation

 Christopher Cook

Surrender, Not Striving, Leads to Life

Growth does not come through striving. It comes through surrender.

Not passive resignation, not apathy, but the active, willful yielding to the refining work of the Spirit. It is pressing through the discomfort, enduring the pruning, refusing to bow to emotions that whisper, “Turn back.”

Feelings will tell you to go back. Faith must tell you to keep moving forward. Because when the Lord prunes, it is never to diminish. It is to increase. In John 15:2 (ESV), Jesus said, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” What feels like loss is actually preparation for fruitfulness.

And yet, even in the cutting, even in the breaking, the presence of the Lord is near. 

The wilderness does not mean He has abandoned you. The silence does not mean He is absent. He is near to the brokenhearted (See Psalm 34:18, NKJV). He is working even when you cannot perceive it.

Your lack of clarity does not indicate His lack of faithfulness. If you only follow when you understand, it is not faith you are walking by—it is sight. The call to transformation has never been about clarity. It has always been about trust.

Your lack of clarity does not indicate His lack of faithfulness.

Resurrection Always Comes

Too many assume that if growth is painful, they must be doing something wrong. But transformation has always required pruning. It has always required surrender. And it has always required perseverance.

So if you feel like you are losing something right now, if you feel the ache of release, if you feel the tension of letting go, do not mistake the breaking for abandonment. Do not mistake the pruning for punishment. This is what the hand of the Lord does—He removes what is lesser so that He might give what is greater.

Because yes, growth feels like death before it feels like life. But resurrection always comes. The only question is whether you will surrender to the process or resist the call.

Will you yield? Will you lay down what you have clung to? Will you press through the discomfort and trust the hand of God, even when it leads you through the valley before the mountaintop? Will you move forward, not just in theory and not just in desire, but in action, in faith, and in obedience?

Because the upward call of Christ is before you. The call to mature sonship is here. And though it may feel like death now, it leads only to life for the glory of the Lord.

So…will you say “yes”?

For a more in-depth exploration of this subject, I invite you to check out my book, Healing What You Can’t Erase.