Article November 3, 2003 Issue

Surrender that doesn't mean giving up

A mental shift can open the door to healing.

By David Degler

I've had a prayer- based healing practice for more than 30 years, in which I pray for people and help them find spiritual solutions to their problems. Through my practice I've learned that surrendering to God is basic to one's spiritual growth and brings great blessings. In fact, such surrender is often a crucial step in finding healing.

But surrender to God, to me, does not mean acting on blind faith or giving up all obligation to think and act responsibly. I think of surrender as turning to God wholeheartedly and expectantly. It involves learning more about our relationship with God and gaining a certainty that His will is good. I know this process by experience, because there was a time when I was the patient — the one in search of healing and needing to surrender.

At one time, I was wrestling with a decision, thinking I should do one thing, when some associates felt I should do just the opposite. During this period of mental struggle, I fell off a low porch and dislocated a bone in my leg. Moving in any direction was suddenly a difficult proposition, and that was exactly the point I'd come to with my associates — we were immobilized over the direction I should be taking. I saw a parallel right away. I was at a standstill over my right position and purpose — an emotional kind of dislocation, while the physical dislocation was making any movement painful.