Let-go-and-let-god

My daughter and I went for a long drive. The weather was absolutely beautiful so I didn’t want to miss a single moment of it. I decided to take her cruising through the old neighbourhood. I suppose you could call it a drive down memory lane.

We used to live in an old character home. The bottom half of the exterior was butter-cream and the top half was covered in brick-red cedar shingles. We took good care of the property including the grape vines that enclosed the back yard and the raspberry bushes that snuggled up against the back shed. I used to spend hours on end digging and planting and pulling up weeds. In fact I spent more time outside than I ever did in. The yard was small, but we’d often throw a blanket down on the grass, and have a picnic or toss a ball with the kids.

It’s since been painted bright yellow, the front yard is covered with junk, and the entire place is over grown with weeds.

It’s the kind of yard you look at and say, “What happened here?!” under your breath.

But the thing is that it’s not my home any more, and as difficult as it might be sometimes, I have to let go. I have to accept the fact that someone else is sitting on my front steps and baking bread in my kitchen.

Letting go can be one of the most difficult steps that we take in our lives. Letting go of a house is fairly easy, but letting go of a job or a friendship? That’s an incredible challenge.

A few years ago, I got to wondering “Is there something wrong with me? Why do I have broken friendships? Is this common?”

As the days passed by, I started to notice that it wasn’t just me. We live in a broken world in which we lose things that we desperately want to hang on to.

Single people know what the sting of a breakup can feel like. You’re at the top of the world one day and the next you’re left feeling like the biggest loser on earth.

Married people? We’re losers too. I’ve lost children to miscarriage, I’ve lost close friends, I’ve lost jobs, I’ve lost a church community, I’ve lost my dad, and I felt the sting of loss when my oldest son moved out on his own. Ouch. Life can be messy. Letting go can be hard.

But I’ve learned something  that’s given me hope: It’s easy to hang on to the things that we are familiar with, but it takes courage to walk in faith.

God blessed me with this incredible __________ in the past, but will I be so “lucky” next time?

Here’s the thing… it’s not about “luck” is it? The same God that’s been faithful to you in the past will be just as faithful to you in the future. Amen?

Don’t put your hope in the gift, put your hope in the giver.

Hang onto that truth and carry it with you into the darkness.

I’m not suggesting that you let go of a bad marriage in hopes that God will give you a better one. What I am saying is that if you are in that place of discouragement trust God with your future. Believe in the power of His goodness and grace.

Are you courageous enough to let go of the worry? Are you brave enough to let go of discouragement and move forward in faith?

Matin Luther King Jr. once wrote, “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1

Of course there are some losses that take a lifetime to overcome. I couldn’t even begin to understand that kind of pain, and I would never assume you could just “let it go.” But I do know that God is faithful and that He is the source of all joy.

In closing I want to share this beautiful reminder of God’s love,

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. – Isaiah 61:3

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife

Pick up a copy of my bookMessy Beautiful Love: Hope and Redemption for Real-Life Marriages. *Amazon affiliate link. 

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