Letting Go

Well...I am certainly no expert on this topic, but I do have a few thoughts based on my life experience.  One of the toughest concepts for me to grasp in life is that of "letting go."  Some of you have it down perfectly, and you run the opposite direction at the first sign of unhealthy behavior in people around you.  I applaud you.  At the same time you may even frustrate yourself because you think you have let go...too soon...before letting God do a mighty work in the lives of those you love.

So, how do we know when to let go and when to hold on? It took me a long time to realize that God did not need me to hold on in order for Him to do His work.  I could completely let go, and He would rescue me. My holding on did not determine the outcome.  It only prolonged my blessing from being fulfilled. When God takes something from your grasp He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14


In order to let go we must forget what lies behind and press forward.  We may not understand God's purpose, but He exhorts us to lean on Him, and He will make our path straight.  He promises to give us a hope and a future.  Scripture is constantly charging us to trust the Lord and wait patiently on Him. But, how do we know when we are really trusting Him?  You will know in your spirit when the Lord is directing you.  You will not have peace when you are away from His plan.  Your spirit stirs when you're not walking in the right direction...Your soul rests when you are. I am guilty of trying to help the Lord. I want to do everything in a hurry. I create the blueprint, lay it out, and ask God to finish it.  How He must shake His head at all my plans!

Continue praying for peace and keep walking away from any unhealthy situation you may be in. Don't try to help God. Trust Him and agree that you will wait and watch for His plan to unfold. Promise Him that you will open up your hands and let go so that you are free to hold on to His promise...to restore you and to bless you exceedingly abundantly above what you could ask or think. Before you know it, you will be faced with a new life abundant and free. Old things will be past away and all things will be new.  Your fear will be replaced with trust, and your insecurities replaced with new hope.  I have discovered that letting go is the same as holding on.  When we let go we hold on to the promise and not the problem.  

Letting go sometimes causes grief and pain.  These can seem like permanent feelings, but they're not.  Once we feel them and release them we actually journey to a better place then where we started. Feeling is actually how we let go. Suppressing our feelings and holding them in only keeps us in bondage to the pain. This process can be intense...but peace, acceptance and a new beginning are on the other side.  There is nothing more exhilarating than a new beginning...a new lease on life.  Hold on...it's coming, and you will soon be able to live through the spirit inside you. You will be a force of love, joy and peace that is free to experience the world through God's eyes. It's time to let it go...It will be o.k.