Stage Three: Surrender and Hidden Works

If you are joining the Journey to Renewal for the first time, welcome. This devotional series unfolds week by week, guiding you through the process of becoming a new creation in Christ. Each stage builds gently on the last, leading you step by step through the transformation God is forming within you. To begin the Journey as it was designed, I encourage you to start with the first reflection - Becoming a New Creation in Christ.

Introduction

In Stage Two — The Caterpillar: Growth and Appetite, we reflected on the importance of spiritual nourishment and the choices that shape our growth. We learned that every thought, word, and action feeds either the flesh or the Spirit, and that transformation requires shedding what no longer aligns with God’s purpose. Growth, we discovered, is not glamorous - it is steady, intentional, and often uncomfortable. Yet every step prepares us for what comes next.

Now, as we continue our Journey to Renewal, we enter Stage Three: The Chrysalis - Surrender and Hidden Work. This is the stage where the caterpillar stops striving, stops consuming, and enters a place of stillness. Inside the chrysalis, everything slows down. The work becomes invisible. What once crawled now rests. What once fed now yields. And in that hidden place, transformation begins.

Spiritually, we experience seasons like this - times when God invites us into surrender, stillness, and trust. These are not seasons of inactivity but seasons of deep, unseen formation. The chrysalis reminds us that God often does His greatest work in the places where nothing seems to be happening.

Surrender and Hidden Work

The pupa stage is one of the most mysterious parts of a butterfly’s life. From the outside, it looks like nothing is happening. But inside, everything is changing. The caterpillar’s old form dissolves so that a new creation can emerge (1).

In our spiritual lives, surrender often feels like this. It can feel like loss, like slowing down, like stepping into the unknown. We may feel hidden, unseen, or unsure of what God is doing. But surrender is not the absence of growth - it is the doorway to transformation.

The Apostle Paul writes:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” — Romans 12:2

Transformation requires renewal, and renewal requires surrender. We cannot be made new while clinging to what is old. We cannot be transformed while resisting the process. The chrysalis teaches us that surrender is not weakness - it is the sacred space where God reshapes us from the inside out.

Jesus echoed this truth:

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” — John 12:24

Surrender is the soil where new life grows.

The Stillness That Forms Us

The caterpillar does not enter the chrysalis because it is strong - it enters because it is ready. Ready to stop striving. Ready to stop feeding. Ready to let the Creator take over the work.

Many of us struggle with stillness. We prefer movement, clarity, and control. But spiritual transformation often happens in the quiet places where we feel hidden or uncertain. God uses these seasons to:

• quiet our hearts

• deepen our trust

• reshape our desires

• heal what has been wounded

• prepare us for what is coming

The hidden work of God is not always visible, but it is always purposeful. When we surrender our pace, our plans, and our expectations, we make room for God to do what only He can do.

The psalmist captures this invitation:

“Be still, and know that I am God.” - Psalm 46:10

Stillness is not inactivity - it is intimacy.

Special Note: As we walk through this tender topic, I want to invite you to honor your own boundaries. Sometimes, God invites us to step into difficult spaces, but sometimes He invites us to step into safe, professional care. If this conversation feels overwhelming rather than enlightening, I strongly encourage you to speak with a therapist or counselor. I am just a fellow Christian sharing my story and writings, not a licensed professional, and I want to ensure you are safe and supported.

Letting God Work Beneath the Surface

Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar cannot see what is happening. It cannot measure its progress. It cannot speed up the process. It simply rests in the transformation that is taking place.

In the same way, God often does His most significant work in the unseen places of our lives. While we may long for visible change, He is shaping us in ways that go far deeper than what the eye can perceive.

He strengthens our character, heals our wounds, renews our minds, and prepares our hearts for the next stage of calling. These are not quick changes. They are slow, sacred works that require time, tenderness, and trust.

Character is formed in the quiet places where no one applauds.

Healing happens in the hidden places where old pain is brought into God’s light.

Renewal takes root in the still places where His Word reshapes our thinking.

And calling is clarified in the surrendered places where we release our grip on our own plans.

The Apostle Paul experienced a season like this after his dramatic encounter with Christ. Before he ever preached a sermon or wrote a letter, Paul was led into years of hiddenness in Arabia — a quiet, formative season where God reshaped his understanding, healed what was misaligned, and prepared him for the calling ahead (Galatians 1:10–24). His life reminds us that the most significant transformation often happens long before it becomes visible to others.

Beneath the surface, God is forming something stronger, truer, and more aligned with His purpose for our lives.

Surrender is not passive. It is active trust. It is choosing to believe that God is working even when we cannot see the evidence. It is laying down our timelines, our expectations, and our desire to control the outcome.

Surrender is not giving up—it is giving over.

It is the courageous decision to place our becoming in the hands of the One who knows exactly what we need and when we need it.

In surrender, we partner with God by yielding to His process rather than resisting it.

Our ‘chrysalis’ is not a prison—it is a sanctuary.

Our ‘chrysalis’ is the place where God protects the work He is doing until it is ready to be revealed. From the outside, it may look like confinement, limitation, or delay. But inside, it is a holy space of transformation.

God shields us from what would hinder our growth, slows us from what would rush our development, and holds us in a place where His hands can shape us without distraction.

What feels like restriction is often God’s mercy.

What feels like waiting is often God’s preparation.

Our ‘chrysalis’ is where God guards the becoming until the time is right for the unveiling.

Closing Prayer

Dear God,

Teach me to surrender to the hidden work

You are doing within me.

Strengthen my character, heal the wounds I carry,

and renew my mind so I can walk in the fullness of Your calling.

Help me trust You in the quiet places

where progress feels slow and the path ahead is unclear.

Give me courage to release control

and to rest in the sanctuary of Your presence.

Shape me beneath the surface

until what You are forming in me is ready to be revealed.

Give me peace in these seasons of stillness

and confidence that You are preparing me for what comes next.

May I rest in Your timing, yield to Your process,

and welcome the transformation You are forming in me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Reflection Questions for Stillness and Surrender (for Devotional Use this week):

Questions of Hiddenness and Formation

I encourage you to record your answers in a private journal. This will allow you to track your growth as you walk through your transformation.

1. Are you in a season that feels quiet, hidden, or unclear — and what might God be forming in that stillness?

2. What is hardest for you to surrender to God in this season of transformation?

3. Where might God be working beneath the surface in ways you cannot yet see or measure?

4. What inner shift — in trust, identity, or desire — might God be shaping within you during this “chrysalis season”?

5. How does Paul’s season of hiddenness in Arabia encourage you to trust God’s slow, unseen work in your own life?

6. In what ways might God be inviting you to see your current season not as confinement, but as a sanctuary of His protection and preparation?

7. How can you practice stillness in a way that opens space for God’s hidden work to take root?

Invitation to Return, Reflect, and Pray

As you continue your Journey to Renewal, take time this week to rest in the quiet work God is doing beneath the surface of your life. Return to these truths often. Reflect on the places where God is strengthening your character, healing old wounds, and renewing your mind.

Pay attention to the stillness - not as emptiness, but as invitation.

Pay attention to the waiting - not as delay, but as preparation.

Pay attention to the hiddenness - not as abandonment, but as protection.

Remember, too, the hidden years of the Apostle Paul. Before his ministry ever began, God led him into a season of stillness and obscurity - a ‘chrysalis’ of formation where old ways were stripped away and new understanding took root. His journey reminds us that God often shapes us most deeply in the places no one else sees.

Pray for the courage to surrender what you cannot control. Pray for trust in the places where God feels silent. Pray for peace in the sanctuary of His timing.

Even when you feel hidden or unsure, remember:

God is shaping you in ways that will one day be revealed.

Your transformation is unfolding —

slowly, quietly, and beautifully —

within the sacred stillness of surrender.

© 2026 Brenda Wheeler / Brenda Wheeler Ministries All rights reserved.

1) American Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). Metamorphosis: From chrysalis to butterfly. https://amnh.org National Geographic. (n.d.). Inside the chrysalis. https://nationalgeographic.com

All quotes from the Bible (excluding linked passages) are from: Revised Standard Version. Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Revised-Standard-Version-RSV-Bible. Accessed 24-27 April 2026.