Let Go

I was not going to write another post today, but then I was inspired by something I read. Let's back up thirty plus years and take a running start at this.

When we were married, we were associate pastors at a church in Ventura, CA. Two blocks down the street from that church there was a Pussycat Theatre. For those of you who do not know about those theatres, you can probably guess from the name what kind of movies they show. On the marquee of that theatre, the title "The Joy of Letting Go" once appeared. My wife thought that would be good sermon title. Some times it takes a while for me to catch up. Did I mention that was thirty some years ago?

In an effort to not bore you too badly before I come to the point of this post, I will not give you all the details, but I found out my nephew who is ten years old is on Facebook. I pulled up his profile. He has more friends than I do. I am trying to get past that inequity. Anyway, I looked at his friends who come up on the profile page and some of them are considerably older than he is. On one profile I saw activities of "hunting and fishing and 10 others." Intrigued as to what kind of woman likes hunting and fishing, I wondered what the 10 others were. The last one struck me. It read, "You'll never find the right person if you don't let go of the wrong one." I could not tell if that were an original quote so I sent a message and asked if I could use it. She graciously responded in the affirmative. So the quote is used with permission of Rachel Morris of Denton, TX. Hey wait. I think I was there last month. Sorry. Mental break. I am back.

You'll never find the right person if you don't let go of the wrong one. That sounded interesting to me. Then it sounded important, then it sounded essential. I have no idea how important it really is. My mind is still running wild, working on that one.

I work with people in recovery from substance abuse. One of the first things a person in recovery has to do is change who he associates with, where he goes, and what he does. Obviously that is not the only group of people who hold onto things they should not. Any time any of us wants to make a change for the better we have to let go of something.

It now occurs to me that most of us cannot change because we cannot let go of something or someone. We feel we need that other person, thing, house, car, church, job, etc. to make us feel worthy, valuable, whatever. We want to be wanted, but we need to be needed. We tend to think we will lose something if we make a change. The truth is that when we make the proper changes, in obedience to God's will, we have a net gain because He adds more than we give up. I do know whereof I speak. My life was turned upside down about two years ago by a lie. The difference in my life now did not seem possible before that. I am a little embarassed to admit, I did not even realize God wanted me to make some changes until I was forced to make them. I am now seeing the difference.

My maternal grandfather was a good man. He was not, probably, the most intelligent man on earth, but he worked hard at a lot of different jobs and had his own business for several years. I believe he was just seventy years old when one day he was complaining about the aches and pains that often come with age. I told him he would probably live another ten years. He said he did not know if he wanted to. He was not of any use to anyone. I am not sure he believed me when I told him he had value to lots of people including me. Come to think of it, maybe he did. He lived another fourteen years, if I am not mistaken.

We are about to get Biblical and spiritual here, just so you know. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to, "...lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1) The question, then, is what ensnares us? The obvious answer for people in recovery is drugs or alcohol. It seems most people do not understand that most often (if you need a number for "most often", I am guessing well in excess of 80%) people who abuse any substance are trying to fill a need in their lives. The need can be as complex as a physical, brain malfunction or as simple as peer pressure. There is something the person feels he or she is missing and they they try to compensate with something else.

Those of us who do not abuse substances simply substitute something else for the substances. It might be work or some other kind of service. It could be the things we possess. Perhaps your football team has your focus to the point of obsession. Maybe you know people who live for their children or their pets. At some point we feel the need to control other people so our universe stays intact. (Wow, this is getting heavy.) I know I just stepped on a lot of toes. That is kind of my job here. I picked mine up off the floor as I started to type the paragraph because I just had a feeling about what was coming.

How about we just skip to the bottom line and avoid any additional bruises to our egos? God has more for you than you can imagine. Yes, I have scripture on that, 1 Corinthians 2:9. You will never appropriate the promises and the blessings of God while you hold onto the things that are now weighing you down and ensnaring you. They may be good things, but they are not the best things. You may think you have all you want and need, but now that I have gone to meddling, there is a nagging in your spirit that you are not walking in all the fullness God has for you. I would apologize for initiating that nagging, but I would be being disingenuous were I to do that. That, also, is part of my job. And yes, I have scripture on that too, Colossians 3:16, or if you prefer, Hebrews 3:13.

With that, I am done. God bless!