A person's surrender into saving faith may happen in a number of ways.

For some, it can hit like a tsunami as they hear an altar call and are swept down the aisle into a whole new life. Resistance suddenly cracks, or a thick layer of numbness begins to part, and for the first time they can see far enough into the fog to discover what they really need.

For others, the sense of surrender may seep in slowly through the fabric of a lifetime of churchgoing until the stuff that's collected deep inside begins to spill all over the stuff worn on the outside. After years of doing the right things, a person is suddenly surprised to find that going through the motions has led to a sudden rush of emotions.

I used to think God was pretty orderly in his way of growing us. He would save people and then grow them and then eventually start to use them.

I can now see that it's not always that simple. I know people who have believed in God for years, serving him faithfully while still refusing to pray the sinner's prayer until a much later point in their story.

Where in your story did (or will) this happen to you?