Letting Go......

I've been thinking lately about letting go and how hard that is. Especially when we are not ready, willing or able to let go of whatever it is we are holding on to so tightly. Sometimes we want to let go....but on our time line and expanding our comfort zone ever so slowly (or so it seems!). Sometimes it becomes obvious that it is time (or past time) to let go.

What makes it so difficult to let go? Many times it is fear. We become familiar with a situation and the people in it and sometimes it seems easier to stay...even if it is not working out for anyone.

When it became very obvious that I was supposed to leave my job and be at home, I dealt with fear of the unknown. The job was a good-paying one with good benefits. Without knowing the situation, it would be easy to say just stay and make it work. It got to the point of realizing no matter how hard I tried, it was time to let go and move on. For the most part, that decision has been the right one.

Part of the fear issue is not always seeing the whole picture and how it will turn out. Almost like putting a really hard puzzle together....without the benefit of the picture on the box.

Letting go can be as easy as having someone else be in charge of the remote control when they really want it. Letting go might not be your decision as layoffs happen at your job. Letting go can be as difficult as helping someone make a decision to no longer receive treatment that will ultimately end a life.

When we finally do let go though? God is there waiting to help move us on to where He wants us to go next. He has the full picture on the box of the puzzle of our lives. Letting go requires trust that we are always in God's view and His plan is to help us find the purpose we're here for.

Is there something or someone you've been holding on a little too tightly? Are you willing to let go and not take it back to worry about? If it's partly your decision, start with the small stuff and work your way up to truly letting go once and for all. Because when we let go? God promises, He won't.

Hebrews6 ^18-20 (The Message) We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us.

Ecclesiastes 3 (NLT) A Time for Everything
¹ For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
² A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
³ A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do people really get for all their hard work? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. .....²² So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is why we are here! No one will bring us back from death to enjoy life after we die.

This song really explains a lot of what I've been feeling about letting go. (Britt Nicole: Walk On the Water) This girl did a great job on her video of it.