How many times have we heard that we need to move forward
in Jesus Christ, and let go of the comfortable place where we have settled? We need to get out of the safety of boat, and
launch out into the depths of His perfect will. “Deep calls to deep in the roar
of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me” (Psalm
42:7). The depth of the Holy Spirit calls to the depth of man and bids him,
“Come. Step out of the boat, and launch out into the deep with me!” Do I long
for His waves and breakers to sweep over me carrying me to new heights? If I
truly long for these unknown depths of complete surrender, I must let go of all
that has defined who I am.
“Let go and let God!” I have heard this most of my
Christian life. It sounds good, but how many of us allow our failures, pains,
attitudes, and even sins that were crucified with Christ to hold us back? Christ
calls us to let go of all that has defined who we are. As a new creature in
Christ I must let go of what I consider the “security” of the boat. There is no
security in the boat I have constructed. There is no security in false hopes and
dreams that offer nothing in the end. That boat is subject to the waves and
storms of life. That boat can sink. But I will discover when I let go of my
self-constructed identity, and step out into the depths of the unknown in
Christ, I am at last standing strong upon the waves, and not sinking into the
depths of my own despair. I am standing on the rock of my salvation.
When I “let go and let God”, I am so longer the child who
failed at sports, or math. I am no longer the person who could not quite get
things together, or a person who has been hurt because of teasing. I am no
longer someone who lets feelings of rejection, whether imagined or real, define
who I am. I am no longer one who needs the world to approve of me. I have found
my worth in Christ. When you “let go and let God”, you are no longer a failure.
You are no longer subject to the pain of abuse or rejection. You are no longer
ruled by fear. You are no longer “not quite good enough”. In Jesus Christ all
this old has been washed away by the breakers and waves of the Holy Spirit. You
are a new creature, a new person, a new identity in Him!
In the book, The Shack by William Young, Mack
stands on the end of a dock with Jesus, and stares at the surface of the lake.
Jesus asks Mack to take his hand, and step off the dock, but Mack can't let go
of the surety of dock. “So, why do I have so much fear in my life?” he asks.
Jesus' answer cuts to the core of the issue. “Because you don't believe. You
don't know that I love you. The person who lives by his fear will not find
freedom in my love.” Oh, it is so true! We must not be afraid to move forward.
Fears will hold us in our own self-constructed boats! There is freedom from all
that has defined us when we let go and move forward.
Each day step out of the boat and discover your newness
in Him again and again. The old will fail you. The new in Christ will never
fail. Launch out into the depths of what has been your uncertainty. You will
find it the most certain thing you have ever done.
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