Let Go of the Thing

This morning, Willow found the bigs' iPad and sat down in front of it. It has a case that she wasn't used to and the screen was locked. She kept trying to swipe it open and got frustrated. As she was trying to carry it to the chair, she fell and it fell and as she kept trying, she got more frustrated. Tears and sweat and screams, oh my!

I was saying, "Willow bring it to me. I can immediately solve this problem but you have to let me have it.  Mommy's got this!" 

Instead, she kept trying to do it in her own strength and her own knowledge. It wasn't working. Obviously. 

All she had to do was stop and bring it to her mommy. I didn't even have to THINK about how to fix it. She could have relied on my knowledge and my strength. But her toddler pride got in the way and she HAD to do it herself.  Even if that meant chaos. 

Do you know where that left her?  Exhausted. Frustrated. Angry. In a bad mood for the next thing in her day. 

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to let go of the thing.  Especially as adults when we don't always know WHAT to let go of or even HOW to let go. 

But when we look at Willow's toddler behavior, we can see that doing it on her own wasn't working for her. Her strength and knowledge and frustration was never going to open that iPad. Ever. Only her mommy could. It required no new knowledge or strength from me. It was second nature for me. Cake. 

So you know where I'm going with this, right? 

In 2 Cor 12:9 here is what we learn about God. It's the first scripture that completely changed my whole way of living and freed me up from holding on so tightly. 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Let go of the thing/situation/problem that you're holding onto. The only way I know how to do this is by taking your eyes off the problem (even if that means to stop focusing on fixing) and place them on Jesus. How? Prayer, reading his word and meditating on it, talking about His truth with your brothers and sisters, serving in His name, being His hands and feet, praying for others, etc. 

He needs you weak. Isn't that freeing?  You don't have to be strong so that God can work. In fact, see that scripture up there? He needs your weakness so that HIS STRENGTH can be perfected. 

All that to say, if you can, let go of the thing. You're getting frustrated and angry and all worked up trying to accomplish something you'll never accomplish anyway. You can pray, "God this is so big. I don't know how to let go of it. Help me trust you. Pry my fingers from it. Give me your peace and wisdom. HELP ME!!!" Be transparent and open with Him. He cares for you and He isn't scared or surprised a bit by your weakness. He requires it. 

You may have grown up with a parent who pushed you and always wanted you to be the strongest. Don't apply that parental mentality to your Heavenly Father. God is for you in a different way. He doesn't push for performance. He doesn't clap the loudest when you win. His arms are open wide no matter how hard you try.  And let's face it...a lot of the time letting go is harder than holding on. 

He's got you. Let go.