Letting Go

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hands. I and the Father are one” (John 10:28-30 ESV).

Truth is—we begin letting go very early in life. Sloshing out from our mother’s comfortable womb and into an unknown future, at least, not known to us. Too soon we surrender our baby teeth and travel to the next phase. To be sure, mom, dad or caretakers have their own struggles with yielding their influence during the dreaded teenage years, first dates and oh, yeah, car keys. Yikes!

After the passing years of youth, letting go remains an issue as we age. Sometimes we give up our good ethical standards hoping to fit in and be accepted with the crowd. Seriously, what hurts more than rejection? Lined up against the thought of failure, it’s pretty brutal. You get the picture and now let’s consider an immensely powerful opposite take on letting go. Which is precisely, ‘not letting go.’

I’m speaking now about God ‘not letting go’ of us once we make Him Lord of our lives and accept Him as Savior. At that point we belong to Him and He tenderly holds us like a good Shepherd who relentlessly searches and finds the one sheep out of a hundred that strayed from the fold (Matt 18:12). Yet, long before time began, He planned exactly that.

Prior to ‘in the beginning’, we were in God’s thoughts and before the foundations of the world, previous to anything created, the Lamb was slain for you and I (Rev 13:8). In providing the Lamb, atoning sacrifice for sin, our Heavenly Father supplied all we need to live a holy life. He secured victory through His Son Jesus and canceled sin’s power over us. Our part is to accept this miraculous gift and walk in His loving care day by day. By letting go of our own strength, wisdom and knowledge we adopt His will for our lives.

Even when we cannot detect His constant guidance or presence, He’s working every moment on our behalf and will not abandon us. He will never leave nor forsake us, especially during the darkest hours. If we are faithless, He remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). Put simply, He lovingly swoops us up into His arms forever.