Give Up or Let Go?

Alaina
Feb 16, 2021
3 min read

When the hurting and the healing feel the same.

When your heart finally scrapes together enough bravery to open up to something just in time to see it fade away.

When nothing makes sense.

When grief shows up on the scene--unwelcome and unexpected.

When your courageous steps forward feel more like bumbling stumbles in the general direction of nowhere.

When your feelings don't align with Truth.

When the questions are many and the answers are few.

When you honestly don't know how you're going to make it through the day.

When the only way forward is through.

How do you carry a season so heavy?

You don't. And, if you're anything like me, you CAN'T. Not on your own at least.

That's when GOD steps in.

(He was already there. He is already here.)

But sometimes, again, if you're anything like me, it takes hardship to awaken my awareness to His closeness.

It takes a storm to notice His stillness.

It takes a starless night to notice His light.

It takes death to notice His resurrection.

It takes brokenness to notice His perfection.

It takes falling short to notice His holiness.

It takes sickness to notice His miracle.

It takes the impossible to notice He's trustworthy.

It takes disappointment to notice His love comes through every time.

It takes loss to notice everything He is and everything He always will be is enough.

So, I'll ask again, how do we go about carrying such a heavy season?

What if I told you you don't have to?

What if I told you God wants to carry this for you? He wants to carry you.

If you're anything like me, (I'm a special case let me tell you...) your eyes are like magnets to the mess of things. You want to jump in the middle of it all and fix and perfect and complete and be the hero. You want to step in and fairy godmother it up! You want to see victory and spread victory. (And there's nothing wrong with this. I believe God delights in those who are just crazy enough to dive into someone else's crazy with the intent of simply making their world a brighter place.)

But what happens when the broken pieces are too many to count?

What do you do when the only fix is a miracle, plain and simple?

How do you respond to a situation that is unquestionably impossible and seemingly hopeless?

What do you do when you can't even find your way through your own darkness, let alone help someone else through theirs?

Give up?

No. Don't give up.

You're here for a reason, remember. If there's still breath in your lungs and blood in your veins, there is inevitably purpose alive in your soul.

So no, don't give up.

But do let go.

Surrender to the One capable of all things.

He does all things well.

He restores what is good.

He creates beautiful things in time.

He makes warriors out of the willing.

He heals and grows what once seemed so hopeless and helpless.

He forgives and redeems what once appeared so forsaken and forgotten.

He leaves the 99 to rescue the one.

He goes out of His way to sit on the edge of a well and let the outcast know she is loved.

He provides a miraculous feast out of a small snack.

He turns dry bones into armies with heartbeats.

If God can do all these things and more. If He can take your brokenness and my brokenness to the cross, declaring It is finished over all of it. If He can defeat death so that we may have abundant life in His Name...

Why then, friend, would we not trust Him with our heavy seasons?

Why would we not let go?

Why would we not bask in His love?

Why would we not let Him fight for us?

Why would we not pursue and learn and adore His heart?

Why would we not claim His Truth through the fire?

Why would we not speak His Name over our own valley of dry bones with faith and authority?

Why would we accept defeat when we can live in victory?

Why would we give up when all we have to do is let go?

God is working.

Where the miracle is needed, He simply calls us to be still before Him, make room, and wait expectantly, patiently, worshipfully.

Let go.