Letting Go and Letting God

Today I'm linking up with Women Living Well Wednesdays, take a lil hop on over and see what wonderful posts are up.

It sounds so easy when you say it "Let go and Let God", but it isn't really! Not when you're worrying about how to pay the next bill, whether your husband's health will improve or wondering how to help your children to make life-changing choices.

Its easy to offer that advice to others when they tell us their problems, but how difficult it is to do it for ourselves. Not when its OUR children who's putting themselves in moral danger or our debts that are increasing. How do we apply that to our everyday lives? How do we apply it to our children?

We all want to be 'doing' something about our problems. We want fast results. We want to say to God 'Hey, look at what's happening to me.. I need your help, but I need it NOW!" There's no way to 'fast-track' God's grace. His timing is perfect, we are not to tell Him how to do His work in us and for us. We live in a culture of 'fast-food', 'instant banking', microwave ovens and instant gratification. Yet, we cannot microwave our problems into solutions. We cannot have instant answers from God either.

We have to do what the bible says in Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint."


Right now, I'm struggling to hold on to these words as I anxiously await news on whether my daughter has been accepted at the school of our choice, as I feel a little discouraged by the endless onslaught of things being thrown at us, as I receive news from my daughter in college of things that I feel disappointed about.  In the midst of it all I know that God is with me. Psalm 91:14-15 "Since he clings to me I rescue him, I raise him high, since he acknowledges my name. He calls to me and I answer him: in distress I am at his side, I rescue him and bring him honour". He hears my prayer. He is my rock and I cling to him and he gives me strength.

How do we apply this letting go to our children? In this new season of life, where two out of the four are practically beyond my  "mothering". It isn't easy to let go, yet what trust would I be showing if I balked and faltered. What kind of faith is it that would not trust God to handle these most precious of gifts He has blessed me with? I am reminded of St Peter, when the Lord walked on the water and said to him "Come", he jumped out of the boat and walked but then he became afraid and began to sink. The Lord is saying to me "Do not be afraid, keep your eyes upon me, believe in My ability to save you.. even if you feel yourself sinking.. I will not let you drown, I will not let your children drown in the seas of life"

Everytime I see my eldest daughter's face when we talk on Skype, I feel a little twinge of fear that she's out there, without my protection any more. Yet I know that I have given her the best grounding I could. I know that God hears my prayers on her behalf. I know that I can trust Him with this daughter that He blessed me with, 'lent' to me and asked me to raise her to know Him and to love Him. Now He is gently saying to me that it's time to let Him take over.

I feel so blessed and honoured when she still asks me for advice. Its humbling to know that I could still have some influence on her choices. She IS a mature, responsible young woman. I may not always agree with her on everything in the future, but I can give her my love and support anyway. I can pray with her and for her. She knows that she is loved unconditionally and that nothing she does will change that love. Even if I become disappointed in her actions, she will always be my daughter, my first-born, the fruit of the love her father and I bear for each other.

So, I ask God for the strength to let go of my children's hands, to let go of my wanting to control the situations in our life that are causing us anxiety, to let go of fear and the endless planning and budgeting that I do to make sure that we will survive. WE WILL SURVIVE... by His Grace alone.

 He leads me to Psalm 92:10"You give me the strength of the wild ox, you anoint me with fresh oil".
  Psalm 94:18-19 "I need only say, 'I am slipping', for your faithful love. Oh Lord,  to support me; however great the anxiety of my heart, your consolations soothe me".
 Psalm 94:22 "No!, The Lord is a stronghold to me, my God is my rock of refuge"


So, today,  I encourage you to let go of the things that hold you, trust them into the hands of the Good Shepherd. As scripture says, Luke 12:25 "Can any of you, however much you worry, add a single cubit to your span of life?"  God's will must be accomplished in each of us. Faith is letting go and letting God. I pray for the strength to do this for myself and for you as well.

May God's graces and blessings be with you and may you shine brightly today!