Devotional for 2/9/13

Holding On So We Can Let Go

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Hebrews 11:1

As human beings we want to hold on tight to everything that means something to us. Whether that is a person, a relationship, a dream or you fill in the blank.  It is our nature to hold things close, to grasp them tightly, to never let them out of our arm’s reach. We do this because we are afraid of losing them. We tell ourselves it is because of our love that we do this, but truly it is out of fear.

Let’s take a relationship, for instance.  At times we allow ourselves to settle for a lot less than we deserve out of fear of losing the person whom we are in relationship with.  We hold onto them rather than allow them the space they need to grow, to mature, and to develop their character. We are fearful that if we allow them space that we may lose them forever. Out of our own need, we neglect ourselves the time to do the same.

The same is true of our dreams.  We hold onto them and try to “rush” things in our lives and we try to “make” things happen.  We are afraid that if we truly let go of them that they will never become a reality.  Because of this we don’t allow the Lord to have the space He needs to work things out in His own way and in His own time.  As a result, we can actually hinder the process of our dreams becoming real along with hindering our own individual growth and progress.

I love the example that God gave to us by sending His Son Jesus to die for us.  God the Father knew that He had to “let go” of His one and only Son, for a season, in order to “gain” the lives of others whom He loved so much. He wanted to save us all into eternity.  In a sense, God was holding onto Jesus and Jesus was holding onto us.  Jesus became a bridge for all mankind and made us the way of reconciliation to His Father. 

Although a distance was created between Jesus and His Father when Jesus came to the Earth, that distance was not without a hope or a purpose.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  If we can allow ourselves to grasp this truth, we will begin to see things differently in our lives.  If we can take whatever it is that we are holding onto so tightly and “see” that Jesus is holding onto it, or holding onto them, or holding onto whatever that situation may be, and then we can also see that He is holding onto us at the same time, perhaps our fear can turn into hope.  Perhaps we can trust that He will not let go of us and He will not let go of the other side, and maybe then we can allow ourselves to simply let go and allow ourselves to hold onto Jesus.

  My only biological Sister was taken from me just a short month ago.  My instinct is to “hold onto” her by gathering around me as many reminders of her as I can.  I want to keep her phone number in my cell phone, I want to wear her favorite colors, I want to wrap myself up every night in the quilt that she made me, I want to keep smelling her favorite perfume, I want to continually listen to her favorite song, all so that I can hold onto that feeling of closeness that we had when she was alive.  I know those things are not wrong, however, they can only comfort me to a certain degree.  What truly comforts me is that the Lord is here with me, holding onto me, and knowing that the Lord is also in Heaven with her, holding onto her.  Although her death has created a distance between us, that distance is filled with hope, it is filled with promise, it is filled with purpose, and it is filled with faith. All of those things can only come from the Lord, and from trusting in Him and in His Plan.

Today I am thankful for Jesus.  I am thankful that He has fashioned Himself into a bridge, and that He connects us to those whom we love, to the dreams that we carry, to the purpose that we desire, no matter how far the distance between us may appear. Above all, I thank Him that He brings us the ability and the desire to hope… even when and especially when things appear the most hopeless. 

Written by Beverley A. Napier on February 4, 2013