Let go and let God
I thought that I knew what it meant to trust in God, until I found myself in a situation where trust was the only way forward. It is easy to trust that everything will work out for good when there is no reason to doubt that it will. It is easy to take a ‘leap of faith’ when you can see the ground just a few feet below. But what about when you have absolutely no idea of how long you’ll fall or where you’ll land? How do you take that leap?
I couldn’t, not by myself. My feet refused to move, and I even felt angry that God expected me to sacrifice the reality I knew for anything else. I did not want to see what was over the ledge. I did not have faith in God or trust in His indescribable goodness, love and sovereign plan.
In Exodus chapter 2, we are told the story of a Levite woman who trusted in God enough to give the life of her son into His hands. By placing baby Moses in a basket on the waters of the Nile, Jochebed showed complete faith in God’s goodness and plan for her child. She must have been terrified. She had no idea of God’s future for her baby; the role her son would play in Israel’s salvation! But, she trusted. And that faith allowed God to carry baby Moses through the water to where he needed to be; in the arms of the daughter of Pharaoh. There is something so beautiful about this idea. If we just let go and surrender control to God, He will carry us along the path He desires, just as He carried baby Moses over the waters.
But why? Why should we want the future God has planned for us more than what we hope for and pursue in this world? It is natural to sometimes feel that the path we are paving for ourselves is better than the narrow, often challenging way that leads us closer to our Father. But this is a short-term perspective. As said by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4 verses 17 and 18, “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
We cannot see the future God has planned for us. That is what makes ‘letting go’ so scary; we are leaping into the unknown. But what we do know is that our Father knows the plans He has for us. His plans are to prosper us and to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29 verse 11). He has abundant goodness stored up for those who trust and take refuge in Him (Psalm 31 verse 19). We know that when we trust in God with all our heart, lean not on our own understanding and acknowledge Him in all that we do, He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3 verses 5 and 6).
Proverbs 16 verses 3 and 4 say: “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. The LORD works out everything to its proper end”. We are told not to worry about what will happen tomorrow. God knows. All we need to focus on is living each day for our Creator; waking up each morning and choosing to step towards the straight and narrow path that He has set, rather than trying to pave our own way. At times we will feel challenged and uncertain but, through grace, each leap of faith will bring us nearer to God’s promise of eternal peace and joy in His Kingdom.
To finish, meditate on the words of Romans 15 verse 13. I pray that “the God of hope fills you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.
