Fun in the Son…Freedom with Christ
So, if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36, NIV)
July 18th, 2022
RELINQUISH: LETTING GO IS HARD TO DO
Why do we as humans find it so hard to let go of stuff? It boggles my mind, especially when we struggle so badly with letting go or giving up something that is bad for us, harmful to us. I know! I was that person who wrestled all my life, giving up things and even relationships that were not healthy for me. I was the proverbial Captivated Georgina who stuck my heart into the center of the world and all the glitter it had to offer and latched on to everything that could make me feel, look or pretend to be fabulous, and then could never let go. With my hands clenched tight-fisted around everything worldly, it sucked me in instead of me prying my grip loose. It wrecked me, everything I thought I had to have. Like Novocain or anesthetic the medical field uses to keep us from hurting when their practices are invasive, so did everything I gravitated to and glammed onto, numbed me from knowing the condition of my heart and the extent of my injuries and the cost to heal the wounds and cover the scars.
Relinquishing things is, to some, impossible. Holding on, even more impossibilities come. Do you know that some choose to never let go, and thus, commit literal or figurative suicide because of what has snared them? Traps are everywhere, temptations and tests, and we make comments like, ‘Such is life.’ or ‘It is what it is.’ I never realized what a depressing, discouraging statement to utter, but it means there is no hope and no grace and no freedom—so, no Jesus, and all He has to offer, all He died to give us. While we are holding on tightly to the things that are killing us, Jesus stands with wide open arms, waiting for us to render all He has overcome that we are still battling. Now, that’s a senseless, useless excuse of wasted energy, fighting a war He already overcame and won.
I can tell you: freedom and peace that comes from letting go is life-changing. I, like so many others, faced suicidal tendencies. I was on the brink of self-sabotage and destruction, detonating, close to driving over a cliff when I encountered and experienced God for maybe the first real time ever. I had been a Christian all my life, but where was the proof? And God showed up in a tiny motel room in west Texas and told me He would rescue me from out of the depths of my pit and set me on a higher ground and put a new word in my mouth. BUT—you know what He said?—I had some instructions. He said, I must ‘Trust Me (Him). Be obedient. Let go.’ He said, “Child, I’ll do all the rest, but you must trust Me, be obedient and let go.”
That was three-and-a-half-years ago now almost. The following year, He added the command, “Just wait.” He has completely transformed me, reformed and remade me. He rescued, redeemed and restored me. There is very little of who I once was which remains, and that means there has been a lot of loss and the cost has been tremendous. At times I didn’t think I could go on, that I could breathe or that I would make it. Often, it still hurts everyday because it cost me precious relationships I realized weren’t healthy, that I was more of a stumbling block to many in my life. I pray those relationships can be restored—like the years the swarming locust have eaten—and I believe a Holy God is redeeming all the enemy has stolen. I first had to learn to trust Him, and that was excruciating, because my truster was broken. Then I had to learn obedience—I had never been obedient to anyone or anything beside myself my entire life! Finally, letting go…wow! I had no idea how. I thought my heart was going to shatter in so many pieces it could never be whole again. I thought I would never be whole again.
God has been so very faithful, and He kept His Word. Everything He promised He’d do, He did, and still continues to do more than I could ever ask or imagine. He is gracious and sufficient, and His love and grace arrives in bottomless packages. He is also a jealous God, and He wants my all. Until I was willing to surrender my all to Him, I would not taste and see fully of His goodness, and all He had to offer. It certainly has cost, but it has been more than worth it. Beautiful You, don’t just take it from me—try it for yourself and see that God is good, and freedom with Christ is more worthy than anything this world has to offer up.
Psalm 18:19, ‘He stood me up in a wide open field. I stood there saved, surprised to be loved.’ (MSG)
Out of all the living things God made, He created mankind to BE. Whatever, whoever, you are, Beautiful You, BE the best version of you; BE the change this world needs; BE filled; BE free!
