Thursday, April 17, 2025 — The Strength to Surrender
Week’s Theme (April 14–18, 2025): The Softness of Strength
He fell to His knees—
not because He lacked strength,
but because surrender is strength.
To say, “Not my will, but Yours,”
takes more courage
than any sword ever drawn.
Words of Light
“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
—Luke 22:42 (NIV)
Reflection
In the garden, beneath the olive trees,
Jesus faced the weight of what was to come.
He wasn’t loud.
He didn’t rally troops.
He didn’t curse the moment.
He prayed.
He wrestled.
He yielded.
This is the softness of strength:
to tremble in the knowing
and still walk forward.
How often do we believe that strength means pushing through?
Fighting harder?
Pretending we’re not afraid?
But real strength—God-given strength—can look like
a whisper instead of a roar,
a pause instead of a push,
a prayer instead of a plan.
Today, be gentle with the part of you that’s still in Gethsemane.
It’s okay to feel the weight.
It’s okay to want the cup to pass.
But trust that even in surrender, you are held.
There is glory in your yes,
even if your voice shakes when you say it.
What area of your life is calling for surrender rather than control?
What would it feel like to trust that yielding isn’t giving up, but giving over to something greater?
Affirmation
I release control and embrace surrender.
There is strength in my stillness, and power in my yes.
With Open Hands,
Rita
Rita Lynn Berry, EdS, LCMHC
Therapist | Poet | Author | Creator of Journey to Me™
© 2025 Rita Lynn Berry. All rights reserved.
Rita Lynn Berry, EdS, LCMHC, is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and the founder of NewVision Counseling and Consulting Services, PLLC. She is also the creator of the Journey to Me™ program and Mend n Muse Media™, where she shares tools and reflections that support healing, resilience, and self-love.