Day 2
Fall – to lose the old, to have its proper place. This is just part of the many definitions of what the dictionary says “fall” is. What is crazy is that the dictionary is talking about fall like ‘I fell down’, not fall like ‘the season’ and yet how appropriate the definition is.
I love fall!! The color change, the weather change, the smell change…..its about change. But to change means that something must go.
As I sit here looking out the window with massive trees all around my back yard, I see it happening right now. Leaves falling. What was once a tree deep in rich green, then a tree with vibrant shades of red and orange, now is soon becoming a tree that will be empty. Nothing left but the branches. I guess our human side finds that sad and we wish the color stayed, we think the only thing that makes the tree beautiful is the colorful leaves …why does it have to be so bare but that’s a sign of what is to come.
But for every beginning there is an end and for every ending there is a new beginning. What I find amazing is that those trees still stand. Those branches still reach out and upward. Not like my plants in the front of my house that have to be cut back and will re-grow from their roots next spring. Those trees still stand. There is beauty in the strength of those branches.
This is such a picture of what Jesus does in our lives. We go through all kinds of seasons. Some are seasons of hard times, some loneliness, seasons of loss or other things such as financial hardships. And those seasons change us. We have seasons that are bright and beautiful and rich in life. Then we have seasons that He allows things in our life to enter so that we don’t remain the same. But through all those seasons He is telling us let go and let Me. Let go and let me show you what I can do. Let go and let me show you what I can teach you… There is strength in your branches with Me. We have to let go grow a new perspective.
Is 43: 18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing: now it springs forth , do not perceive it? It will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the dessert.”
The weight is too heavy for you to carry and still look up. We cannot continue in our walk with Jesus and never let go. We must go through these seasons so that we continue to learn to surrender our control and in the process we desire to be more like Him, to trust Him more, to fall in love with Him more. He did not create us to still look the same this season as the next season. The Bible is clear on that.
I Peter 2: 2 “Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you grow in respect to salvation”
I Corinthians 13: 11 “When I was a child , I used to speak like a child , think like a child, reason like a child: when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”
Total surrender is hard. But that is because total surrender means giving up control of our hearts, our souls and our minds. When we control our heart, our heart begins to lose heart for the things of Jesus. When we control the depths of our souls we control the wounds and the spaces that are not yet His. And when we control our minds, we allow fear, anxiety, shame to invade and soon we believe what we are thinking instead of resting on what our Father says is true.
Luke 10: 27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind…”
We cannot hold on to parts of us and say we have surrendered. God wants all of us. God wants us to let go of the things that are holding us. When we do and those things fall… and new life comes from it. Change happens in us and through us. He reminds us that He is still there standing strong and He still holding us up, much like the tree and the branches. He says let go of it and I will hold you.
Isaiah 41: 10 “Fear not , for I am with you, be not dismayed , for I am your God: I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand.”
God knows the depths of your world. He knows the depths of your hurt, the depths of your fear, the depths of your insecurities, the depths of your loss but He promises if you let it go He will bring new life and you will be a vessel ready to be used by your creator.
I Peter 5: 6, 10 “Humble yourselves , therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that in proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you …and the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
We cannot accept the gift of salvation and then do it our way with our limits, holding on to the parts of our life we don’t want to let go. Our relationship with Jesus is worth more than just a part of us…let go and let God! And remember letting go is much like the leaves that will fall this autumn….it is a sign of what is to come. Surrender means to give up oneself into the power of another. So today …whatever part your still holding on to …. surrender it…and allow God to bring newness of life.