A Life Lesson--the Lesson of Life...

The lesson of life – to release or let go of all things, people, situations, dreams, desires.  Yesterday is gone; tomorrow may never be – to live in the beauty and peace of a moment.    To erase from our minds the bondage of should, aught, must, or what if’s.  Learning the measure of living in this place of victory is the measure by which we are able to receive the love of God!

The very moment Christ---gave up the Spirit—God began to move and in the interim of death and life was the power of release, the power of let go, the power of the resurrection!   Nothing could hold life down or cripple the life that would follow Christ! 

Years ago I had a decision to make—for me it was a big decision, as I fasted and prayed I spent time away from daily activities and I sat in the midst of God's creation watching as squirrels chased each other in the tree tops.   Suddenly the one in front found itself on the farthest limb with no tree close by, only a sapling growing between the distant trees.  The squirrel hesitated only a second before she leapt with grace that caught my breath but even greater was the wonder when she touched down on the small frail sapling and landed with such grace and balance the limb simply bowed gently for its visitor.  My thoughts returned to the moment of decision and I pondered.  “How can that squirrel take such a leap of faith and land so precisely, when I stumble and struggle so much?"  I heard  the Spirit whisper,   “She does not question but responds instinctively to who I have created her to be—when you respond to who I have made you to be, you too will take giant leaps of faith". 

David was very wise in knowing times and seasons….it is written “Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain.  So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them….he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs."   Then David’s men reminded David of the Lord’s words, ”Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you, And David arouse and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe’…David  was sorry he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe and told his men.  “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord” 

So the life lesson of ‘letting go’ requires a deep sense of the value of every person, the right attitude is the most powerful response in this life lesson. 

Even the ebb and flow of the ocean speaks of things first touching then releasing—it is a reflection of eternal life to be able to hold on yet let go.  Only as one has unquestioning assurance and confidence in which God has made them to be can the letting go principle knows full power. 

To release the seasons of life is the secret to the much more of spiritual growth and development.  It is this release that impacts every moment of the future.   The momentum of life is kept at a steady pace, no weariness, no complaining, but joy as every moment replaces the moment just released.  James Matthew Barrie said, “You have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by. Yes, but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.”  It happens in…a moment.

I remember the story of the old Pentecostals who were heard at the altar saying… “hang on sister, hang on to the horns of the altar and don’t let go until God gives the answer”, then another voice would call out saying…”let go sister, let go and let God!”  Havelock Ellis said, “All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”

Letting go is a subject many books have been written about and most concern relationships. “Sometimes" said Gloria Naylor, “... being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny." Letting go means you never leave someone behind, you take a part of them with you and leave a part of yourself behind.

There is the trauma of leaving jobs, changing locations, leaving home, and leaving school, leaving communities or churches.  Life is full of the ‘let go lesson’.   As time goes by and age grips the physical even the activities of yesterday must be replaced by less strenuous activities of today.  No longer can you dig and rake the gardens, travel the world, run the marathon or climb the highest mountain.

Technology has spawned new ways of communication, faster; right now responses have pushed the human physic beyond the limits of the previous generations of mind mapping abilities.  All this requires we let go and let tomorrow set the boundaries of limitless thinking.  “We must be willing”, said Joseph Campbell, “to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.” 

Letting go of your past and memories are also extremely hard. Even though old memories can be tormenting, yet you might hold on to the past and refuse to move forward but refusing to let go of the painful past only serves as a roadblock to the future.

Seasons teach us that without the power of their persuasion we would not be prepared for changing climates.   Leaves drop sadly to the ground to give way, to yield to the next season and bulbs and roots must rest before the Spring can come again.   From  babies loss of first tooth, potty training and the stumbling steps taken  into daddies opened arms, letting go is an art and a crucial ‘life lesson’

The deepest most painful art of living is experienced in the letting go of self—the depth of self abandonment is immortally viewed on the Cross and can only be known as you walk in trust and obedience to God.  When God ‘let go’ of Himself it was the gateway, the heavenly portal, the door to life everlasting, a place of freedom that words alone cannot express.  Letting go of the old self and the process of allowing the new to emerge can be one of the scariest experiences in life. But by leaving behind your old self and taking a leap of faith into the unknown, it might just reveal what you are truly capable of becoming.

This is the secret and the reason ‘letting go’ becomes a life lesson, it is learned through the moments of life.   Oprah Winfrey caught a glimpse of this when she was able to say: “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”