Leaving Things Behind

It's OK to let go... give it all away... it may come back or not, but whatever happens you can be sure that God has you covered. 

I was thinking about how many things I've had to let go of and physically leave behind over the trail of my life...

Re-covered couches, free couches, piano's, tables and chairs, beds, garden tools, toys, wheelbarrows, you name it, books, anything else you might find in an average household.  I could be bitter.  I could choose to feel sorry for myself. 

My pretty pink striped couch recovered and gone to another home.



My table gone my children here, my teapots and cups in transit...

How many homes have I bought, or rented, or care took, and just as I could barely begin nesting, another move!  I have felt sorry for myself a lot about this one.  Then I realized most of my life from high school years and beyond have been spent moving.  God was preparing me for a life of upheaval. 

Before high school I lived in two places.  A mobile home that my parents had bought out in the country and then in a few years, built their home which was always under construction and never finished.  When we left it while I was in high school, I left behind sheetrock walls and plywood floors with a patch of throw carpet here and there.  The kitchen counters had contact paper on them; there was always several projects going and not many fully completed.  It was a nice house in the making and sturdy just not finished. 

My life is not much different today...finished, that is.  It won't be until God takes me home.  I'll never arrive at perfection or knowing it all or having it all together until then.

 (I wrote this a few days ago and am just proof reading here before I publish.  I usually don't wait so long but God must of known that I needed to read a post written by someone else first.  Today I read a wonderful post about letting go of trying to find or have the perfect family at www.thelifeofthismother.com  God speaks to us in our hearts today and impresses upon our minds the truth of His word.  It is living, active and powerful.)


Not only have I had to leave material things behind on this earth but there are emotional and mental things I've had to let go of, not to mention people I love who have died or people I have loved but have caused injurious relationships.

The tighter we hold to these things, the more miserable we are and the more damage can be created.  We cannot change people, sometimes not even our circumstances, and even government.  We do have the choice to just release them into God's care.  "Cast all your care on Him for He cares for you....."

God will give us the wisdom to know when to hold tight and when to let go and when enough is enough and His grace is sufficient.  I just listened to a Tony Evans broadcast today on KJNP (King Jesus North Pole)  radio station and his definition for grace was God giving you something you can't give yourself.  He talked about when life is full of trials and full to the brim with heartache and suffering and you begin to thank God instead of complain and moan He will give you that second wind to go through these difficult times with His grace. 

Suffering is part of life and we can't get away from it.  We need to stop trying and instead....

Claim and confess that God is good even when things look bad.  When we see things through His eyes, not our own, our perspective changes.  Remember His thoughts are not are thoughts.

There is a purpose in difficulty and suffering.  We are to learn to lean hard to our Heavenly Father and depend upon His strength and grace to get through, not by our own self sufficiency.  We are supposed to be living in fellowship with one another, not in isolation. 

We need the strength that others provide and they likewise need what we can give.  No, this is not co-dependency.  That crushes and smothers.  No, this godly dependence centers on the power of God, the truth of His word, and the fact that He never changes and is rock solid dependable when all others are not.

Don't be afraid to leave things behind, whatever they may be.  If you need them again, God will provide.  If not, you'll be happy to know that God didn't think it necessary either.  We have nothing to fear when God is in control.  And from reading Scripture, we know that He will be in control for all of eternity.  What a comforting thought!