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Letting Go

July 30, 2014 By Lisa Larson 5 Comments

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Why is it so hard to let go?

To surrender all that we are to the craftsman who made us.
To the one who provides the very air we breathe.
To the one who gave us life.

Why do we fight this inner battle? Elizabeth Elliot put it so beautifully,

“There is no ongoing spiritual life without this process of letting go. At the precise point where we refuse to, growth stops. If we hold tightly to anything given to us, unwilling to let it go when the time comes to let it go or unwilling to allow it to be used as the Giver means it to be used, we stunt the growth of the soul. It is easy to make a mistake here, “If God gave it to me,” we say, “its mine. I can do what I want with it.” No. The truth is that it is ours to thank Him for and ours to offer back to Him, ours to relinquish,
ours to lose, ours to let go of
 – if we want to find our true selves, if we want real life,
if our hearts are set on glory, then we must give it ALL to Him.”

— Elizabeth Elliot

As humans, I think we have an innate desire bred into our beings to control, define and write our own destinies.

Isn’t that what the great world teaches us? We are the masters of our own ships, aren’t we? Free to sail and live life as we please.

True as it is, it is nothing without God.

We are selfish by nature. We clinch our fists at anything that defies the blueprints we’ve drawn up for ourselves. {<======CLICK TO TWEET}

So it’s no wonder we struggle when life doesn’t go our way.  When death, sickness, and pain, come knocking on our door. When plans don’t pan out, or when we didn’t get the memo that a major life change was on the horizon.

Learning to let go, has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of wanting to give our lives over to God, but doing it our way.

Everything in human nature collides to hang on. We battle to solve the difficulties, fight to figure out life, and cultivate comfort in all we do.

It’s so against our constitution to surrender, to yield and give up all that we are to walk blindly into the fog–not knowing the path ahead.

Yet, He promised to never abandon us. We must remember that He is not made of the same frail human condition we are.

He loves us.
Utterly and completely, without fail.
And that changes everything. {<====== CLICK TO TWEET}

“No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

—Romans 8:37-39 {NIV}

I pray my heart will always beat to the rhythm of His song.
My soul always sing his praises.
And in all things, may my life ever point back to Him.

“The cross is laid on every Christian. It begins with the call to abandon the attachments of this world…When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow Him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world.

But it is the same death every time… death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at His call. That is why the rich young man was so loath to follow Jesus, for the cost of his following was the death of his will. In fact, every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts. But we do not want to die, and therefore Jesus Christ and His call are necessarily our death and our life.”

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Shared by: Lisa Larson

Photo Credit: Randy Heinitz

Related

Filed Under: Growing Your Dream, Living Your Dream, The Ups and Downs of Dreaming

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Lisa Larson

About Lisa Larson

Lisa Larson is a whimsical city girl who believes dreams are worth chasing and walls are worth painting. She is married to the boy she’s loved since she was 14, and together they have 3 little kiddos. She knows all about living a life lost in darkness and having her dreams crushed by the daunting waves of fear. But she can also tell a tale of redemption and the bold courage God gives you to set sail and venture out, not knowing where the ocean might take you. True beauty comes from following your passions in Him, and living a life that awakens others to come alive. She writes at The Copper Anchor and can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Comments

  1. AvatarElise Daly Parker says

    July 30, 2014 at 9:11 am

    Wow…learning to trust, when you’ve been given many reasons not to is particularly hard. But God is so faithful and as you point out loves us so much…He alone is worthy of our complete trust. Thanks friend, this was a Good Word for me today! Love to you.

    Reply
    • Lisa LarsonLisa Larson says

      July 31, 2014 at 12:18 pm

      So true! Thanks for the encouragement sweet friend!

      Reply
  2. Kathy @ In Quiet PlacesKathy @ In Quiet Places says

    July 31, 2014 at 11:22 am

    I have found that letting go seemed so hard because it felt like I would lose something, but it turns out I gained so much more because God blessed the choice to let go, and we don’t do it alone, when we surrender He strengthens us to do the letting go. This is such an important lesson to learn and also a very freeing one!

    Reply
    • Lisa LarsonLisa Larson says

      July 31, 2014 at 12:19 pm

      Kathy, yes you are so right…it really is such a freeing choice! Thanks for stopping by today!

      Reply
  3. AvatarHolley Gerth says

    July 31, 2014 at 1:49 pm

    Oh, girl, yes. This is so good. Thank you for reminding us of the power of letting go…and helping us take hold of the truth our hearts need. Grateful for you!

    Reply

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