Demolition Is Not Destruction

There are times when jobs, friends, material items, and even people will be removed-- learn when its best to let it go to make room for your better to come.

Speaking personally there have been times when I have thought that my life was literally falling apart. My finances were in shambles and my marriage was teetering on the brink of total destruction. I fought with all I had in me, I read scripture that I felt was speaking against the enemy that I thought was taking away these things that were mine. But what I forgot to do in all this fighting was to ask God if I should be fighting to hold on or learning to let go. I never thought to ask for clarity on holding on or letting go. Instead, I simply asked for help to fight, help to maintain what I had and give me the strength to persevere. It was not until months later after nearly exhausting myself, after wreaking havoc on my physical and mental health, that I finally asked God to reveal to me if my fighting was in vain.

“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” – C.S. Lewis.

Often times we hold on to unhealthy relationships, stressful and unproductive jobs, and cars and homes that are above our means and keep us in financial bondage. We hold on to these things often because we allow titles, positions, and material possessions to define us or to express our worth to outsiders. We often put so much energy into these items that we take away from having the time or energy to pour into situations that could prosper us.

We often hold on to things telling ourselves that it is God's will to restore these things without ever actually consulting God. We hold on believing that if we do not then we have failed to have faith. However, this is not always the case. It is imperative that we know that there are times when letting go is not giving up. Letting go is to really surrender to God's will. It is understanding that there are things that are outside of our control that need to be handed over to God and that we must trust that His will is better than our want for our lives.

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. Mark 8:35

Let Go & Let God

We often hold on so tight until our knuckles hurt. We squeeze with all our might but nothing changes. We fight against the inevitable and in doing so we waste time, we waste energy, and we waste resources that could be better served elsewhere. If you don't believe that holding on too tightly or fighting to keep something can be exhausting then try this.

Take your hands from the keyboard. Now pull your right hand with your left using your fingertips from both hands. Now pull in both directions with fingers interlocked. This is what we do to ourselves. We play tug of war with God as He attempts to remove the things we think we need to be happy.

In Mark 8:35 we are told that in hanging on to life we lose it and it when we surrender our care, our burdens, and our fights to God that we actually win. There are times we must let go and trust that there is no loss in God. If in surrendering these stressors to him they no longer stay with us, then know that He has better in-store or He simply knows that the freedom from fighting might be all the winning you need.