By Pastor Mark Lounsbury

Let Go and Let God

I was recently driving behind a car that had the following bumper sticker on it: Let Go and Let God. Wow, so simple, yet so profound. It’s simple to say, yet sometimes profoundly difficult to do.

We as Christians are called to be a “faithful” people. Or better yet, a “faith-filled” people. It is through faith that we enter this Fellowship of Believers, and it is through faith that we continue in this Fellowship. Faith has been defined as a “belief in or confident attitude toward God, involving commitment to His will for one’s life.”

By its very definition, faith ensures that we will not have all the answers. We will never be able to understand the complexity of the infinite with our finite minds. What is so wonderful is that we are not required to understand everything in order to please God. On the contrary, we are told that “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Our faith is what pleases God. That simple assurance that God is on our side and that He is working out a Divinely orchestrated plan for our lives is what pleases Him.

However, sometimes we would rather trade in God’s pleasure in order to secure our own understanding. In other words, sometimes we would rather understand what is going on rather than be content with the knowledge that God is pleased with us. Look at what the great father of the faith St. Augustine had to say about faith and understanding; “Understanding is the Reward of Faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.”

Many things have happened in my life which I could not explain or rationalize; instead I had to accept by faith that God would work these situations out for my good. And I am sure that the same could be said for some events in your life. At those moments when things don’t make sense, we need to remember the following words of the Apostle Paul, which were written to the church at Rome: “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

I remember sharing that passage with my wife Sandra shortly after she lost her mother in a tragic plane crash. I can now say, many years later, that God made something good out of that tragedy. But at the time I could not understand what God would do, I just had faith that His word was true. Today you may be in a similar situation where you can’t understand what is happening, but you need to have faith and believe that God is working it out for your good. E. Stanley Jones once said, “Faith is not merely your holding on to God, it is God holding on to you. He will not let you go!”

When thinking about God holding on to us, I cannot help but to visualize His loving hand reaching down to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. I see Him protecting them from the plagues, saving their children from the death angel, parting the waters of the Red Sea, providing water from a traveling rock, and raining manna from heaven to feed them. God’s hand was stretched towards these people in a unique and special way. And the Israelites depict us, God’s chosen people. God’s hand is extended toward us in a unique and special way.

During one of his historic sermons Charles Spurgeon made the following statement:

All the histories of Scripture are written for our ensamples, but especially the story of the Israelites in the wilderness, which is given to us…for purposes of spiritual instruction. These things were written that we might see ourselves in the Israelites as in a glass, and so might be warned of dangers common to us and to them, and be guided to a worthier use of the privileges which we enjoy. Always read Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with this view,-"This is the story of the church of God in the wilderness: I would see how God dealt with them and how they dealt with him, and from this learn lessons that may be useful to me in my own pilgrimage…"

Even though the Israelites were the benefactors of God’s special revelation and the recipients of signs and wonders performed by God’s own hand, they were not able to enter into the Promised Land because of their unbelief. The problem was not that they didn’t understand how He was going to do it; rather it was that they believed He couldn’t do it or that He wouldn’t do it. God was not looking for them to understand the whole plan; He wanted them to simply believe in the plan. That is what He wants from us today; He wants us to simply believe in the plan He has for our lives. We cannot allow unbelief to keep us out of the Promised Lands of our lives; those places that God has appointed especially for us.

I want to close by recounting a story for you that I came upon recently.

A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued:

"Is anyone up there?"
"I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can't hang on much longer."
"That's alright; if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch."
A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"

This is a comical look at the way in which we respond to God’s call for faith. We want to believe, yet we cling to what we can understand and see. At this moment God may be asking you to let go of something you have been clinging to for years. So, it seems clear that there is just one thing left to do: Let Go and Let God!