I once read a story about a man who wanted to climb a high mountain and he wanted to accomplish this goal alone. Although it was not recommended by other trained climbers, the man started off on his climb.
Everything was going great and he was almost at the top, suddenly his rope broke and he began to fall. Knowing he was falling to his death, he began to cry out to God for help. All of a sudden, his rope caught on something and he stopped falling. He said ‘God help me!’ And God said ‘Do you trust me?’ Then man replied ‘yes!’ And God said ‘then let go.’ The man thought about it for a few minutes, again God said ‘let go of the rope.’ And the man said ‘no, I can’t let go.’
Early the next morning they found him, frozen to death, just 2 feet off the ground. If only he had let go, he could have walked to safety and lived.
I thought about this story today and was reminded of something that happened when Bryson was younger. You see, when Bryson was little, and had just learned to walk, one day he climbed up in my office chair to spin. He called it ‘weeee’ and then he decided he wanted down. So, he scooted around and hung his little feet off to get down, but he couldn’t touch the ground. I was saying ‘Bryson, honey, just let go, you are only an inch from the ground.’ But there was no letting go, he finally began to cry, so I sat him down and I said. “Honey it was okay, if you could have only seen what I saw, you would have known how close you were to safety.”
Ahhh. To see from a different perspective. That’s how we often are with God. We see our situation and it seems so far from victory. Or we feel like we are falling and we hang on to the rope for dear life. God is saying ‘trust me, and let it go.’ But we keep hanging on. I have done that many times myself. However, over the past few years I have learned to trust God with my safety. I have learned to trust Him with my heart.
Over the weekend, while I was shopping with Breanne, I saw a picture that said ‘Be Still my Soul, the Lord is On Our Side.’ I just loved that and it reminded me that even when I can’t see what is going on, He is on my side and I take comfort in that truth.
I talked with a friend yesterday about this same subject. For me, it’s harder to let go than it is to fight. Give me a good fight and I am in there, but tell me to just let go, and you will have to pry it from my hands.
This I have found in my walk with God, sometimes He says ‘stand firm and don’t budge’ and sometimes He says ‘let go and let Me have this one.’ Both are being led by God. Both have an outcome of victory because that is His promise.
Just like the climber, sometimes we hold on so tight and refuse to let go, and the price becomes great, too great. Trust God. Trust Him if He says ‘hold on’ and trust Him if He says ‘let go.’
Trust means to seek refuge or to run to for protection. Never run from God, always run to Him for protection and trust Him, whatever He says, trust Him. He will not fail you. He will not drop you and He will not allow the enemy to triumph over you.
You can’t see what God sees. He sees how close you are to victory. He sees if you just let go and trust Him, you will land on solid ground. You have to trust what He sees. He won’t let you fall. Trust Him. You have His promise, just let go!
