Why Does Surrendering to God Feel Like Quitting?

This episode discusses the importance of trusting God while actively pursuing personal and professional goals. It emphasizes that true hope should be anchored in Jesus Christ rather than worldly achievements like gold medals, wins, or paychecks. This devotional highlights the pitfalls of idolizing success and underscores the necessity of maintaining faith in Christ, even while striving for excellence.

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Transcript

Ronnie Baker 0:00

Can anybody explain to me how you're supposed to give your dream to God without feeling like you're quitting on it? Was surrender supposed to feel like quitting for years? I couldn't find the balance. What's up y'all? I'm Ronnie Baker, your favorite Olympic sprinter and Christian mentor discipling you on how to navigate your faith and your sport. Today I want to talk about something a lot of us wrestle with, especially as competitors. What does it really mean to give your dream to God? Do we stop caring? Do we give up? Let's break it down, letting go at the altar or giving it all to God. That phrase gets thrown around a lot, but here's the truth. It's not a physical act. It's a heart posture. It's not about giving up your dreams. It's about surrendering control over the outcome while still being faithful to the work. See for me at the Olympics in 2021, I was really excited about potentially winning a gold medal. My first outdoor global world championship gold medal being on the top of the podium. It was a dream of mine, and when I got fifth, my dreams came crushing down. c. As athletes we're wired to chase goals to run faster, train harder to win. But when we follow Jesus, he calls us to something higher. Not to stop running, but to run a little differently. Not for a crown that fades, but for one that lasts. One Corinthians 9 24 through 25 says, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize run in such a way as to get the prize, but we do it for a crown that will last forever. Trusting God doesn't mean sitting on the sidelines. It doesn't mean being passive when you're competing or taking it easy on your opponents, it doesn't mean walking away from your calling. It means simply this God. I'm going to give everything I have. I'll train, I'll prepare, I'll show up. I'll do the physical work. But my heart, my heart, it's anchored to you. Your hope is not on a gold medal, a record or a roster spot a big bonus in your contract. I know mine was set on that gold medal. My heart wasn't anchored in Christ, and because of that, I made this medal my idol. And when that idol fell because it couldn't stand up to Christ, it almost destroyed me. Your hope is in a person, that person is Jesus Christ. The mistake we make is when we put our hope in ourselves or in something like a win, a gold medal or a paycheck. I'm not saying you shouldn't pray for those things, but let's not build our faith around them. If we do, when it doesn't happen, this causes our spirals in our life. It causes us to lose faith because we put it in something and not on the one who is never changing. So if you've been wondering, how do I trust God with my dreams, it starts right here. Keep showing up, keep working, keep believing, but release the outcome. That's what real faith is. It's not passive. It's active surrender. That's what it means to leave it at the altar, not to quit, not to slack, not to take it easy, but to commit with your whole heart, fully set on God. So don't leave your problems and issues at the altar, then go and pick'em back up. Surrender the outcome and let God handle it. And I promise you this, when your identity is rooted in him, the results won't shake you, even if you win or you lose. Every devotional that I do is gonna come with an action step. So today, grab a journal, a notes app, sticky note, whatever you want. I want you to write out this sentence. God, this dream belongs to you. I'm committed to the work, but I trust you with the outcome. Then underneath that, write out your specific dream, the goal you've been carrying, stressing over, or tying your identity to. Once you've written it down, pray over it out loud, surrender it. Tell God whether this happens or not, I'm still yours and I still trust you. It's not about giving up the dream, it's about giving up the pressure to control it. So real quick before we go, let me pray for you. Dear Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for today. I wanna thank you for this time that we got to talk to you and spend with you. Lord, we pray that as we go about our day. That we find these things that are weighing on us, that are pressing on us, that maybe we have tied our identity to, and we give it to you. We surrender it to you, God, we leave it at the altar and we're not gonna go try and solve the problem on our own and pick those problems or those issues or those burdens back up, Lord. But we're gonna trust you with the outcome we're gonna give our all and we're gonna believe. That the outcome that you have for our lives is the best one for us. Whether it's a win or a loss, we know that you have our best interest at heart, that you're here to grow us, and you're here for our good. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Guys, if this encouraged today, share it with another athlete who needs to hear this. And if you're still trying to figure out how to balance faith in sport, I'm gonna let you know you're not alone. Keep showing up, keep trusting God. And remember, defeat is optional when your hope isn't him. I'm Ronnie Baker and I'll see you in the next one.