Let Go and Let God!
By Alexandra Copeland
Many people today are facing really
challenging circumstances. They feel as if their backs are
against the wall, so much so that they’re panicking about
their situations. Philippians 4:6(NKJV) tells us,
“Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
Many of us are very familiar with this verse of scripture,
but when you don’t know where your next dollar is coming
from, the lights are going to be cut off, or the spouse is
packing their bags, ready to call it quits, you feel
desperate. The urgent need of God’s assistance makes us say
things like, “HELLO!!!
I could really use Your help here! Please help me if You’re
listening. I’ll turn my life around, I’ll be better. Just
HELP ME! I’ll do anything.”
God’s response very often is
“LET GO!” This isn’t what many of us are expecting to hear, and
that’s why, when we’re under extreme pressure, we always
claim that we’re not hearing Him. He’s speaking! He never
stops speaking. Psalm 46:10(NLT) tells us,
“Be still, and know
that I am God!” He’s not telling us to just sit idlily
by and do nothing. Believing God is an action. It means that
we first seek His counsel, and then we act according to His
directive. Letting go is very often one of the things He
directs us to do.
We hold on to the things we love so
tightly, that surrendering them is for many of us
unfathomable. We tell ourselves that we love too hard or
that we’re just made a certain way and can’t change. None of
this kind of thinking will help us to be the men and women
God has called us to be. To trust God, we have to change,
and sometimes we have to change in ways that are very
uncomfortable for us. Some of things that He wants us to do,
we’re not always going to understand, and this is where our
trust in Him is crucial. In order to surrender, we must have
faith!
The teaching of Jesus Christ in Matthew
5:3-11 are often referred to as the ‘Beatitudes’. When it
boils right down to it, they are
‘attitudes to be
blessed!’ They are the mind-and-heart-set for
happiness—the keys to letting go and letting God. In Matthew
5:3(NLT), Jesus begins the Beatitudes with
“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the
Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” The Kingdom of Heaven is
the Kingdom of God. It’s God’s home, and its home for the
believers as well. This earth is not our home, we’re just
passing through, and our treasures should be laid up,
somewhere beyond the blue.
Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew
6:19-20(NLT), “19
Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them
and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and
steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and
rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.”
He is teaching us about the core of life, the real deal.
He’s warning us not to be so concerned with the stuff of
this world. Yes, we should strive to live a meaningful life,
but we have to be very careful not to get entangled with
things that put us in bondage—things that take away from our
relationship with God. The world teaches that more, more,
more is the way to go, but Jesus Christ said God blesses
those who have less. Why? Because they realize their need
for God. They recognize that God is their sufficiency. This
is awesomely important, because our Master Jesus says that
the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. They have a guaranteed home
in the Kingdom.
The King James Version of Matthew 5:3
says, “Blessed are the
poor in spirit.” Again, it refers to those who don’t
have wealth or influence, and may even have to beg in order
to get by. For many of us, being destitute and having to
resort to begging for survival is to far removed from our
reality, but “there
but the grace of God…” We are blessed that we have
means, but many of those that do not possess a humility that
is very precious to Heavenly Father. It should be our goal
in life to pattern our attitudes with a humility that meets
God’s standard.
Many people lose their way in life.
They allow the problems to worry them to death. This is an
indication that we may have lost sight of what is important
to God. This need to hold on to things so tightly, to not
let go and let God, will take us out of harmony with God’s
Word. Jesus Christ reminds us in Matthew 4:4(NLT), “But
Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Life is
found in God’s Word. It is the glue that holds our worlds
together. When we let go of our problems, humble ourselves
before God and grab on to His promises, He will strengthen
our hearts as He helps us to grow in humility and love.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT)
are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights
reserved.
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