Let Go

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” John 14: 1

There once was a young man taking a hike in the mountains. As he hiked he kept going higher and higher, all the while enjoying the majestic views and awesome splendor of God’s creation. Finally he reached the top and spent a few hours of the afternoon just relaxing and marveling at the handiwork of God. But then he began to notice some storm clouds moving in from the west and decided to beat a hasty retreat down the mountain. Shortly after beginning his descent however, the storm began to roll in with heavy fog and mist blotting out the sun and making it almost impossible to see. In a near panic, he started to run down the trail, tripping over rocks and getting smacked in the face with branches. As the thunder began to boom he burst into an all out frenzied run and within minutes could not tell whether he was still on the path or not. All of a sudden, he found himself free-falling through the air. As he descended over the unseen cliff face, he grasped in desperation for anything he could find to stop his fall when miraculously he was able to snag a branch and pull himself up onto a small outcropping of rock.

He tried to look up to see how far he had fallen, but all he saw was fog and dark clouds. He looked down to see if he could gauge how far he was from the bottom, but all he saw was more fog and a swirling sea of mist. In fear he began to scream for help at the top of his lungs. After what seemed like hours he finally lay down precariously on the sliver of rock and began to pray. Hearing nothing in reply he began to shout again for help. Suddenly a voice boomed down to him from above, “I can help you!” “Awesome” replied the hiker. “Who are you?” “I am God” said the voice. “But do you trust me?” The hiker replied, “Of course I trust You, You ARE God.” “So you’ll do exactly what I say, no matter what I say, right?” “Right” replied the hiker. And then God said, “I want you to let go.” At that point the hiker paused and then shouted, “Is there anyone else up there that can help me?”

What are you having a hard time letting go of today?

Anger? Fear? Resentment? Laziness? Over-commitment? What about friends that lead us down the wrong path? Or grief? Perhaps we hold onto our loneliness or our grudges or our pain? Maybe we’re addicted to a substance or sin or another person? What about your past or worrying about your future? Sometimes it feels safer to stay in our place of misery than to set out into the unknown of recovery or change or community. Maybe we’d rather stay trapped on that sliver of rock because at least we know where we are and if we let go we drop into the mystery.

But did you ever notice that most of the time the things we’re holding onto are precisely the things that are holding us back? Back from what? From freedom, from peace, from possibilities, from change, from adventure, from creativity, from joy…from GREATNESS! Obviously if we were to just let go of everything all at once without any faith or relationship with God the results could be as disastrous as not letting go. But when we know that God is there for us, when we know that He loves us and when we know that He only wants the best for us and He is saying “Let go!” how can we stay on that ledge?

Dear Jesus, I want to let go and fall deeper into the mystery of You. Help me to let go of whatever ledge I cling to in my life that keeps from experiencing all that You have in store for me. Amen.