I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our Chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Ta Hool Hool Shute is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are - perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my Chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.
- Chief Joseph - 1877
This is perhaps one of the most simple yet profound surrender speeches I have ever read. I'm tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I sill fight no more forever. No matter how strong we are, no matter how determined we are, no matter anything, there comes a point when we simply do not have the fortitude to continue to fight. The battle is no longer worth the toll we are paying. We're going to surrender. The question is to whom or what? There are three choices. We can surrender to death, lay down and die. We can surrender to that which we were fighting and return to the drink or the drug or whatever had us in bondage. Or, we can choose to surrender to God.
When we turn to our Creator and declare that we are tired, sick and sad and have decided to stop fighting, He will accept our surrender on His terms, meaning we must surrender unconditionally. His terms are that we stop fighting, and that we serve Him and others in love. In return for that, He will not only spare our lives, but renew them, restore them and transform them into lives worth living. He will give us the power and strength to walk free of the things we couldn't walk away from before and to do whatever it is He asks of us. And then He gives us joy and peace and contentment and love. In other words, when we surrender, we get to exchange our hell for heaven.
Fight as long as you want, search far and wide, there is no better offer available. We will lose. We will surrender. So why wait? Surrender now so that the misery of the war can end. Just choose carefully who to surrender to.
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