Category: let go

Thrilling Guest Thursday: A Theme

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 42:5-6a ESV

This morning I was talking with Kelly Greer from Ain’t No Mountain Too High. She reminded me that she wrote a post (“Falling in Love” with Change) that went along with a recent theme that we’ve been noticing…

God is calling his daughters to “Let Go!”

Just this week Lynn D. Morrissey wrote about the topic over at Redemption’s Beauty in a post titled: Letting Go-In Her Words.

As a matter of fact, Shelly Miller from Remption’s Beauty is writing a whole series this month on the topic: 31 Days of Letting Go.

And a couple weeks ago, Jennifer Dukes Lee from Getting Down with Jesus, saw those words in San Francisco and wrote: Why It’s Safe to Let Go

I received an email from a friend during that same week, and she shared with our “band of sisters” that a little birdie told her that some of us were needing to “Let Go” of some things that were holding us back. (I paraphrased, a bit there, Kathy 🙂 She recommended a book, she is reading, by Sheila Walsh…Let Go: Live Free of the Burdens All Women Know.

I am listening.

But the real question is will I let go? Will I surrender? Will I release myself and others from unrealistic expectations? Will I forgive?

Dear Jesus…Help me to “Let Go!”

While at the same time, You promise to never let me go! Thank You!


Posted on by kelrohlf 3

Release: To Let Go

On Tuesdays, I post a picture to contemplate. I found these vintage needles at a thrift store and had fun arranging them for a photo. As I embark on this 40 day journey, I am reminded that I must release things in order to prepare for the next season of life. I need to let go of stuff. I realize that my expectations will be challenged, and potentially I will be asked to surrender them to a richer, deeper Sovereign will. 
 
 
In the story of the Rich Young Ruler, we get a glimpse at how difficult it is to let go. After you read his story, I’d like to invite you to go over to Redemption’s Beauty to read another story of release that has a happy ending. 
 
 
 


And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 

And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”  Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”  And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 
(Mark 17-27 ESV)

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Posted on by kelrohlf 3

Empty: Lacking Reality, Substance, Meaning or Value

“And do not turn aside after empty things
that cannot profit or deliver,
for they are empty.”
1 Samuel 12: 21 ESV
Empty nesters, a phrase applied to a couple whose children have flown the coop. I resist the label. This season doesn’t feel as empty as I thought it would. My life is full with both joy and angst. Really nothing has changed, except the circumstances.

These days, I have more time to contemplate my tendency to chase emptiness. How can empty things be so appealing? As God told the Israelites through Samuel, “Empty things are empty. They don’t gain you anything and they definitely cannot deliver you from the emptiness that you have been running away from.” The Israelites had been delivered from bondage in Egypt, moved into the Promised Land, got distracted by the local gods, then cycled through their judges like fans and their American idols.

They tired of God and the judges, so they asked Samuel for a king. Samuel consulted with God, who told him the downside of having a king. But if his people were bent on having a king, he’d give them one, and so started the cycle of kings.

In Samuel 12, Samuel confronts the Israelites one last time about their tendency to worship other gods, and their foolish desire to have a king. A surprising twist in the narrative finds me marveling at God’s frankness about their sin, and His gracious desire to remain in relationship with His wayward ones.

And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.  For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” (1 Samuel 12: 19-25 ESV)

Basically, God says “Yes, you have done all this evil, but I really want you to follow me. Return to me and stop chasing emptiness. I have loved you with an everlasting love, and I am drawing you back with cords of kindness. I will not give up on you; however, if you go back to your wicked ways, there will be consequences.”

God tells us the truth and He gives us the way out. He loves us and He warns us where the empty life leads…to separation and destruction.

Oh, how I want to turn aside from emptiness and chase the One who is “full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 ESV)


Posted on by kelrohlf 4