So if you haven’t said this render novena, I really encourage you, but the reason I’m bringing it up in a weight loss podcast is because I have found the concept of surrender to be absolutely key to being led by the holy spirit in all areas of your life. But what I find is that so many women who come into the Weight Loss with the Holy Spirit Community or that I talk to just in general, have never considered the concept of surrendering their food and weight struggles to the Lord. In fact, I find they’ve surrendered their marriage, their parenting, their profession, their sick parents, their adult children, their neighbors. They’ve surrendered so many areas of their life, but they either don’t think that the Lord really cares about their food and weight struggles or B. haven’t considered the concept of surrendering, or C. Maybe a little bit, like I was in can be or I’m gripping, so stinkin tightly to it, I’m way too afraid to give it up. So today I want to talk to you about how the concept of surrender is so key to having the holy spirit lead you in this area of your life. I want to talk to you about the difference between surrender versus giving up. How do you use this concept of surrender to help you? And if your brain might be throwing a little fit about this idea of surrender, what you can do about it. 

So stay tuned because no matter where you are in your journey with surrender, you will find that you’ll be able to make progress in your weight loss journey by the end of this podcast. So number one, what the heck is surrender. Jesus says in this surrender novena exactly what surrender is not. And he says, and I’m paraphrasing, listen “don’t offer your worries to me and send them up as a prayer, let’s not surrender. He says surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset or to lose hope nor does it mean offering me a worried prayer and asking me to change your worry into a prayer, isn’t that great! So surrendering really doesn’t mean that we’re still agitated and unsettled. You guys, we might still have feelings, we might still want to grip to things, but that is not total surrender. And so what’s fun is you might surrender a little bit and then pick it back up and surrender and pick it back up and just know that that’s part of the journey. But I love how Jesus is so clear on what surrender is not. Surrender is not using our own strength. Surrender is not believing we have all the answers. Surrender is not agitation is not an unsettledness. 

But what he says is that surrender is leaving the cares of your affairs to me. Close your eyes and say, you take care of it. I mean, how many of you are hearing that right now being like, oh, no, no I had that doesn’t make any sense to me. So that doesn’t make sense to you, that’s fine, then you stick around to the end of this podcast, because I’m going to tell you what’s coming up next. Jesus goes on to say, turn your thoughts away from your future as you would temptation. And rest in me. Oh my gosh. So he’s like, hey, if you’re going to worry about the future that’s not surrendering to me. Surrender it to me. He says, turn your thoughts away from the future as you would from temptation and rest in me. He said believing in my goodness, all right. And I promise if you say you take care of it, He said, I will take care of it all. I will console you, which pretty much to me says, I’ll comfort you. He says, I will liberate you, which to me, this is how free you,  I’ll release you. And he said, no guide you.  

You guys, he promises that he will comfort us and free us and release us and guide us. Isn’t that amazing, he will do all of that. But we have to walk through that door of surrender and the truth is, because I know it’s hard and so if we’re even just willing to give him just a crack of willingness, He’ll do the rest. He will do the rest, I promise you that. Someone who surrenders.

He says to him, you take there, you take care of this so what does surrender look like? What could that look like to you? He tells us in the surrender novena. But someone who surrenders says you take care of this, Jesus. You show me what you want. I want to be led by you and they wait. They’re asking, what do you want? Gosh, just thinking of that now, don’t you feel that trust?

Do you feel docile? Do you feel open? And a docile open and willing heart is ready to be led. Now people may hear surrender and think something or different than that. They’re like, they think that’s just pretty much giving up. They think I can eat all the things I don’t have to try, I can give up on taking care of myself.  

You guys, that’s not surrender; that’s not being comforted; that’s not being freed; that’s not being led by the holy spirit; that’s not trusting him to lead us. Well I just described to you giving up on yourself, eating all the things is what I call resignation. Leaning on human strength is what I call resignation. Believing, this is the way it’s going to be, this must just be my cross. Feeling hopeless and I don’t believe the Lord gives us crosses to be attached to human things. I don’t think the Lord gives us crosses to find comfort in worldly things. I don’t think the Lord gives us crosses that make us feel helpless and take us farther from him and find substitutes for him.  But you guys, if these are the thoughts that you’re having I’ve tried so many times you feel hopeless. I’ll start and then I give up and you feel defeated. If those are the thoughts you’re having it’s totally okay. They feel very, very real and they are very real but I want to tell you how to handle them. But can we just agree that those thoughts, although they are very real, may be very true to you they’re not of the Lord because we know that his voice is only encouraging and uplifting, and gentle, and comforting, and soft.  

And so the thoughts of I’ve tried so many times, I can’t do it. I always start things and I’ll give up this feeling of hopelessness and defeat are not from him. And, you know, they’re not from him because of the fruits of those thoughts and those thoughts keep you stuck in tornado thinking.  Confused and feeling stuck and feeling controlled, they keep you chained. He wants you to feel peace. He wants you to feel freedom. He wants you to have clarity. And those are the fruits of the thoughts that come from the Lord if you feel peace and clarity. Then, you know, they’re from him. So if you’re having thoughts that aren’t from him, not a problem, and you’re feeling stuck and in despair and hopeless, not a problem. I want you to know there’s a different way, let’s go back to surrender for just a minute. I will get to how I can help you my friends, if you’re feeling stuck. Let’s look at how surrender plays out as opposed to resignation.  

What if you just said right now, Jesus, I surrender my weight loss struggles to you, take care of everything.  Jesus, I surrender my food to you, take care of everything. Jesus, I surrender my body to you, take care of everything. What if you said I’m willing to learn how to be a woman who surrenders my weight loss to the Lord. I’m willing, can you just feel how open and surrendered that feels? And from a place of feeling open and surrendered, you talked to the Lord about your weight loss. You ask for help, you ask him to bring you resources to nudge you what he wants for you and you do your part which is to do what he reveals. What you’re not doing when you surrender, you’re not white knuckling, you’re not worrying, you’re not stressing. You’re not giving up and you’re not resisting help. Do you see how surrendering gets you closer to what you actually want? You trust him for help and he will bring your help. He will reveal what he wants for you and how he wants you to do it, it’s not a mystery. He will bring that to you when you’re open and willing and surrender; you become that woman who surrenders your weight loss to the Lord. You surrender your food to the Lord. You surrender your body to the Lord and all it takes is that one phrase. Jesus, I surrender my weight loss to you, take care of everything. 

So if you’re new to this and this concept sounds so stinking foreign or your brain is really throwing a fit about it and resisting it. I just want to say it’s totally fine but let’s take a few steps forward, little micro steps forward because I bet. What I just talked about seems really beautiful to you and you wish you could get there. But your brain is throwing a little bit of a fit. So first of all, just say thank you brain. Thank you for trying to keep me safe, I know this feels confusing. The second thing is to get a copy of the surrender novena. It is so short, it will take you probably less than two minutes a day to say the surrender novena. He will work on your heart a hundred percent and promise you he’ll do that. And number three, let’s start thinking some thoughts that will help you, some thoughts instead of saying I’ve tried so many things I always give up. Let’s just practice having a news story. You can set those stories down at any point. What if you could start practicing, and these are just a few thoughts, you can try. I’m willing to see what’s possible in the surrender novena. I’m willing to see what’s possible. 

When I loose my grip, I’m willing to set that story down, I’m open to learning new ideas. I’m becoming a woman who doesn’t give up on herself. I’m committed to learning how to not give up on me. I’m willing to follow God’s nudges. These are just a few thoughts that you can try that will get you closer instead of closed off. What we’re trying to do is to open you up, open up your heart so that surrender can happen. So if the Lord can come in and do his soul surgery, this is a process, but over and over, I get confirmation that this is the ultimate antidote to food and weight struggles for Catholic women. When we loosen our grip and recognize our ways aren’t better than his, that we will never outdo him. He will always come through. He is so faithful and we open our hearts when we give him a crack of willingness. He throws the door open and miracles happen. So if you’re hearing this, I want you to consider it a very special personal invitation to you. The Lord is always pursuing your heart and he w he’s nudging you right here and I know just by listening to this episode, Alone. 

You can feel that God is already working on your heart and drawing you closer. He loves you so much and wants to heal you and only the way that he can. But only when we surrender and only when we’re open or at least willing to invite him in. But only when we surrender or at least start by being willing. I promise you he’s standing right next to you and he is ready whenever you are, and if you’d like to make today that day that you surrender your food and weight struggles to the Lord then say in your heart with me the very first day of the surrender novena. I’ll read it and we’ll say it together. And the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, Amen. Why do you confuse yourself by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say too, in truth, that every act of true blind complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations 

And then 10 times we’ll say, oh Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything. And I want to give you permission to put, oh Jesus, I surrender my weight to you, take care of everything. Oh, Jesus, I surrender my food to you, take care of everything. Oh, Jesus, I surrender the stress in my life to you, take care of everything. Oh, Jesus, I surrender my marriage to you, take care of everything. Oh, Jesus, I surrender my to you, take care of everything. Oh, Jesus, I surrender my to you, take care of everything. Oh, Jesus. I surrender my  to you, take care of everything. Oh, Jesus. I surrender my fear to you, take care of everything. Oh, Jesus, I surrender my anxiety to you, take care of everything. Oh, Jesus. I surrender myself to you, take care of everything. And so you can start the surrender novena for yourself and if you feel ready and you’d like to be taught how to surrender all of your food and weight struggles to the Lord. And if you’d like to be surrounded by a community of women, who are surrendering their food and weight struggles to the Lord and learning how to get to a healthy weight for the rest of their life. I invite you to join our community now is the best time. Today, we’re starting our 30 day challenge and learning the foundations of our program. Go to the weightlosswiththeholyspirit.com and get started with us today.  All right, everybody have a blessed day.