The Irony of Surrender

Day 67 of the Inner Excellence 90 Day Challenge

Summary

• We’ve got 3 Inner Excellence retreats open to the public in the next 3 months!

  • The Inner Excellence Retreat at Omega Resort, Rhinebeck, New York, Sept. 18-20, 2026. Come join us! By far the lowest cost you’ll ever find ($525) for an Inner Excellence retreat.

  • The Inner Excellence YWAM Homes of Hope house build/Inner Excellence retreat. You’ll get picked up at San Diego airport and just need your passport—no experience necessary! Build a house in two days alongside a family in need in Ensenada, Mexico and experience a full Inner Excellence retreat as well. The most common response to these retreats is “life-changing.” We’ll let you know when registration opens.

  • The first ever Inner Excellence retreat open to the public in Europe! Join us in La Fustera, Spain for a private experience at Jim’s personal residence. Dates are TBD but looks like Nov. 19-22, 2026 or Nov. 26-29, 2026 (celebrate US Thanksgiving with us!) Reply to this email if you’re interested as it will likely sell out quickly.

• Regarding the 90 Day Challenge, one of the primary pursuits is the journey towards freedom, which is a very worthwhile goal. The only small catch is that it may mean a fair amount of surrendering who you’ve been to become someone you’ve never been before.

• In this workbook, I’ll be coaching you for 90 days. This is Day 67. Each day is based on 7 minutes of reading and contemplation, with two days off per week. Pre-order here! (or go to Amazon for your local country).

Note: Please pray for the lives lost in the devastating floods in Nepal and for finding those still missing. Please continue to pray for what the International Rescue Committee lists as the top three humanitarian crises in the world right now: the civil war in Sudan, where tens of millions of people are in desperate need, the occupied Palestinian territory, where over 70,000 people have died in the last two years, and South Sudan, where the risk of civil war is escalating. Go to Amnesty International or International Rescue Committee to see how you can help.

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Day 67: The Irony of Surrender

“The most common characteristic of successful people is the willingness to get help.” - Angela Duckworth, Ph.D, Author of Situated

Imagine you were about to build your dream house—but you had to do it all yourself. It wouldn’t be much of a dream anymore if you had to do all the wiring, all the plumbing, all the electrical—everything, yourself. Unless you were a master craftsman or builder, you would much prefer to hand the job over to someone who’s more skilled than you at each particular specialty, the roofing, plumbing, installing cabinets, etc.

That’s what surrender is. What would happen if when you went to the dentist, the auto mechanic, or the surgeon, and you didn’t surrender total control over to the professional? Life would be a lot more work for one, because you’d be spending all your time fixing your car, cooking all your own food, and of course you wouldn’t have any professionals doing your work—and it wouldn’t be near as good as if you let someone who’s devoted their life to that specialty do it for you. We cannot live a great life without surrender.

Consider the power of surrender according to author Dr. John Ortberg:

“You receive power through the act of surrender that you cannot obtain any other way; you receive freedom through submission that you will otherwise never know… The Twelve Steps followed by recovery groups lays out a way of life that is the single greatest path to freedom for addicts the world has ever known. But at the core of the steps lies a great paradox: In which of the twelve steps does it say ‘now try really hard to not drink’? In which of the twelve steps does it even say ‘now decide not to drink’?

Amazingly enough, the most powerful tool against the most powerful addiction in the world never asks people to decide to stop doing what is destroying their lives. Instead of mobilizing the will, its followers surrender their will. Try to overcome the problem by your will, and it will beat you. Surrender your will, and sobriety becomes possible. Surrender, which we think means defeat, turns out to be the only way to victory. This is not just the case with alcohol. It is also true with other addictions.”

• John Ortberg, author of The Me I Want to Be

Key Takeaway:

The most extraordinary lives ever lived understood the power of surrender. There is no learning without accepting that you have things to learn, which in turn requires surrendering your attachments including what you think you already know. In order to absorb the learning, we have to let go of what we’ve been clinging to—our past, our wounds, and our fears, so we have space for the abundance that awaits.

Application:

Which areas of your life have you surrendered to someone or some thing superior to you that was helpful? What’s another area that would help you if you were to surrender your attachment and outcome?

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