TAKING THE CIVILIAN OUT OF YOU: A JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION PART 7: ROLLING — SUBMISSION IN THE STORM

TAKING THE CIVILIAN OUT OF YOU:
A JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION
PART 7: ROLLING — SUBMISSION IN THE STORM

Previously: In Part 6, we discovered how to leap over life’s obstacles like frogger drills—learning to move through spiritual, financial, academic, and personal challenges with grace and persistence. Now, we step into a deeper drill: rolling. A test of surrender, endurance, and submission.

After carrying loads, squatting, running, and frogger hopping, the recruits or trainees were finally told to roll on the ground—in the dirt, mud, or gravel—while water was being poured on them.

It wasn’t just exhausting. It was humiliating. But there was a purpose.

The commanders wanted to break their pride, break their independence, and build in them a response of obedience—even when they didn’t understand the reason behind the pain. That’s where true soldiers are made: not in strength alone, but in surrender.

Rolling is uncomfortable. It strips you of control. You’re not walking, standing, or leaping—you’re down, face to the ground, soaked and spinning.

Spiritually, that’s what surrender often looks like. When God says, “Submit to My way,” it may feel like being on the ground, getting soaked in hardship. But that posture is where power is formed.

In life, there are seasons where you must:

Roll through uncertainty.

Submit during delay.

Surrender in the middle of a storm.

Obey when instructions make no logical sense.

The rolling drills weren’t punishment—they were preparation for obedience under pressure.

Balanced Realities:

Spiritual: Sometimes you won’t feel strong. But submission to God—even in confusion—produces divine strength.

Physical: There are seasons of rest, but there are also seasons of bodily submission to discipline and health routines.

Academic: When studies get tough, rolling means staying committed even when the course feels overwhelming.

Financial: Rolling financially may look like enduring a dry season while remaining faithful with what you have.

Mental: Rolling teaches emotional surrender—processing pain without self-pity but with trust.

Social: It’s knowing when to submit to mentorship, leadership, or family dynamics without rebellion.

Even Jesus had His rolling moment—Gethsemane. He rolled in prayer, sweat, and surrender. “Not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

REFLECTION 

What are you resisting that God is using to train you?

Are you in a season of rolling, but trying to stand before it's time?

What area of your life needs surrender rather than strength?

Are you interpreting your rolling season as punishment, or preparation?

This week, embrace the posture of surrender:

Pray, “Lord, help me to submit even when I don’t understand.”

Identify one area you’ve been resisting God’s will—and yield it.

Let someone speak into your life whom you've avoided listening to.

PRAYER

Lord, rolling isn’t easy. But I trust You, even when I don’t understand the process. Break every stubbornness in me, and teach me to submit to Your will. Help me to find strength in surrender, and peace in the unknown. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Coming Up Next:

Part 8: The First Assembly — Accepting the Mission

📌Let’s Talk:

What’s your rolling moment? What area have you struggled to surrender, and how has this part helped you see it differently? Your story matters—feel free to share your testimony or question. We grow better together.

Thank you!

Prince Julius Nenebi-Darkson

(EL-PJ God’s Penman)