Let Him

A friend once told me a dream she had about her son. His life was one of poor decisions with bad consequences. She had made every effort to force him to change, but nothing made a difference. She had prayed for God to move in his life and nothing happened. In her dream she lay on the top of a cliff, and held on to her son who hung over the edge. He dangled in the air, and was in danger of falling. The bottom of the cliff couldn't be seen, and she did not know what waited for him if he fell. She tried so hard to pull him back up onto the cliff, but she didn't have the strength. She held on to him as tight as she could trying to save his life. As she lay there crying for the Lord to give her strength to pull her son back from sure destruction, she heard God's voice tell her to let her son fall. “You pray for him,” God said, “don't you trust me to catch him before he hits the bottom? You can't rescue him. Only I can, but I can't catch him if you don't let him go.”

How many things has God waited for me to let him handle my fears? How many times have I stood in His way trying to figure something out that was beyond my ability? When will I learn that as long as the answer I need is consuming my heart, then I will not hear that answer when it is given? I might even question that answer, and decide that I can't trust the way in which it was given to me. In other words, I will always have a question. I will always wonder if I have missed part of the answer, and that there is something more. Faith has been replaced by fear, and nothing that is presented to me will make a difference.

When will I let go and let God answer the hard questions? When will I decide that it is time to let go of the fear that is consuming my heart? At times we all fight letting go. We would love to be in control of outcomes. But life means that I can't. If I struggle to be in control of outcomes, then I bang my head against a wall that will shatter any hope I might have. Philippians 4:6-7 instructs that when we let Him have our problems we can have peace. There is peace is not needing to have the last word. There is peace is not having to have an answer. There is peace in just letting go of that fear or issue or problem that hangs over the cliff. At the moment I release my hold of that fear I can breathe again, and worry about what waits at the bottom of my cliff is lifted. Because I know in that precious release that if I let go and fall into His loving grasp, I will never hit the bottom. God is the only thing that waits for me.

Whatever you face and whatever I face, He waits for us to let go of our fear and trust in His answer. Hanging on to that cliff and that fear will not ever bring peace. Hanging on to that cliff (my attempt at control and my human reasoning) will never bring peace. No matter what we face or battle, He tells us that He will catch us. But He can't do anything if we don't allow Him. We have to let go and let Him take over. We have to surrender. We will never know the depth of God's best, God's peace, God's promise, God's provision, God's strength, God's power, God's love, and God's heart until we let go trusting God will catch us before we hit the bottom.

My friend, I pray that today you can let go of your cliff. That cliff means death, and there is life when you let go and trust Him to catch you. There are those who love you and will help you learn how to let go of your cliff. Whatever you face, you are not alone. And the wonder is you will never hit bottom. But you will never know that if you don’t let go. He holds you safely and always in His grasp. Let Him.