Letting Go; The Continuing Story

Appearently God didn't think that summing up how to release our grasp on things was good enough in one post...

Last night I was reading in my devotional (which I love) 'My Utmost for His Highest' and was astounded by that day's page of wisdom.

May 23 said:

. . . do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on —Matthew 6:25

Jesus summed up commonsense carefulness in the life of a disciple as unbelief. If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, “Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?” And He always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion.

“. . . do not worry about your life . . . .” Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself. It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us. Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us? Is it the devil? No— “the cares of this world” (MatthewMatthew 13:22 ). It is always our little worries. We say, “I will not trust when I cannot see”— and that is where unbelief begins. The only cure for unbelief is obedience to the Spirit.

The greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon.

It's absolutely amazing to me that I have been dealing with letting go of different things, and the very devotional I open up to last night adds a new flavor to my most recent revelation!

God. Is. Incredible.

Letting Go

When I say that title, it brings me great relief. Comfort too.

But that wouldn't have been the case in the not too distant past. It would have caused me to hang on tighter and scream like a stubborn young child... I wouldn't have wanted to let go at all. I would have said that this situation is necessary... I just need this to happen... I really do believe in that person... Its really ok because I can handle this.

Then I found out I cant.

In fact, I crumble under the immense stress and anxiety of holding onto to something that may not be His will. And God made something even more clear to me than I knew before...

We aren't supposed to.

We shouldn't carry the load. We aren't supposed to hang onto things that bring us worry or stress.

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

"Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved." (Psalm 55:22)

Or even the latter portion of Matthew 6 shows us amazing promise...

I have read these verses many many times and even thought that I did let things go... But not until I held on to something long enough to create hurt and pain, did I finally give up and let God take the reins, the burden. I guess I was pretty stubborn that way. :(

You know that feeling that rushes over and through you when you breathe a huge sigh of relief? There isn't really a way to describe it.. it's just amazing. Well after truly letting go and having God take what He really does want to take and free us from, healing, peace and joy are now in it's place.

It's like living with a constant happy sigh of relief...