Is Letting Go Quitting?

Originally posted 2015-11-19 14:18:42.

Hi!

Have you ever held on to a disagreement, an argument, a relationship, a ministry assignment, a business venture, a career path, a home or a job when clearly the Lord has told you time and again that it is time to let it go?  So what do you do?  How do you get past the warfare that speaks to your mind and causes blockage that hinders you from moving?  Where is it time to think about what’s past due in your life?

What exactly is past due?  Could past due be a nudge to get you to let go of some things?  If so, why is it so difficult?

When something is past due, you start getting notices and reminders.  When bills are past due, you get periodic reminders of the past due status.  When a woman expecting a child is past the delivery due date, the weight from the baby is a reminder.  When you are past due for being in a new place in God, there are reminders.  They come in diverse ways.  Sometimes the intensity of situations become stronger.  Frustration from the over load from multiple assignments is a reminder.  Some of us are doing so much until we start forgetting where we laid our keys, our hats, our flash drives, or our money.  We forget doctor’s appointments; we forget to take our medicine, and some of us even forget to eat.  Yet we don’t always see the subliminal signs that we need to let go of some things, some people or some situations.   We start snapping at everyone for no reason at all.  Then, not seeing that we are past due in some areas of our lives, we hold on to Galatians 6:9.   It says, “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time,  if we do not give up.”  (NRSV)   ….We wrestle with the possibility of missing harvest time and don’t realize that our weariness is due to our not obeying God by letting go.  We wonder, if the wish to let go is only because of our weariness.  We ask ourselves, “Is letting go quitting and giving up?”

How do you overcome the warfare?

The enemy often taunts our minds with accusations saying, “You are just a quitter.  You always start things and never finish.  You are just too timid; etc.”  But when a change has come over you; and when God is trying to usher you into the next dimension, you start to see things differently.  Trust and obey God.

When the Lord speaks to you and tells you that it’s time to leave a job, don’t wait until He allows you to have a major health issue and multiple surgeries that force you to come off a job.  Pray and ask God where He is leading you to and where He wants you to go; and just go.  When you and someone have been in a longstanding disagreement and you find yourself continuously thinking on how you are going to speak to that person; realize that it is bombarding your thoughts and let it go.  That’s not being a quitter.  Sometimes you have to agree to disagree and keep it moving.  When you and someone are in a lingering argument; don’t fuel the flame and insist on being right.  Let it go.  When the relationship that you’ve been in; platonic or romantic; is heading nowhere, and it’s draining your peace, your joy, your sense of worth and affecting your salvation; let it go.  Don’t hold on for the fear of no one else coming into your life.  Trust God!  .When the Lord tells you that a ministry assignment that you are working on has come to its completion; let it go.

What do you do when holding on is holding you back?

Sometimes when you continue to hold on to situations, people or things, it hinders you from moving to where God is trying to move you to.  You have prayed to God about unfulfilled accomplishments and you are ready to move to where God is calling you.  But you wonder what is holding you back.  sometimes it’s you.  I have worked on a project for nearly two years and it’s at the eve of completion.  I have dealt with an individual for months on particulars of the project; which has caused me to have several apprehensions about the situation.  Based upon my interactions with this person, I can clearly see that though they have important responsibilities on this project; the spirit of control is a dominant participant.  I don’t see their concern for the project blessing the intended recipients.  Nor does the person have any theological education or ministry experience to make sure that the project maintains the intent of Kingdom building.

I prayed about the tension.  The Lord spoke to me and said, “Rochelle, let it go.  You have given your best, and the very intent is so that it will bless people.  Let go of the frustration with the person.  Your discernment is intact about an agenda.  But what’s your motive?  Do you have an agenda?  Remember your main priority is that it blesses the recipients.  Trust me to make sure that it blesses the people.  Let it go!”  …Now that I’ve let it go and written out a schedule for some backlogged things that God told me to do, I’m so excited.  A load has removed from me.  I have no animosity, and I haven’t quit.    My friends, what are you holding on to that is holding you back?  What do you need to let go of?

Is letting go really quitting?  Or is letting go moving you to the next dimension?

I have come to realize that there is a difference in quitting and letting go; especially when The Lord directs you.   You can leave a job, and have moved on to another job or career.  But you haven’t let go of the concept of earning an income.  You can end a business venture; but that doesn’t mean that you have let go of entrepreneurship.  You are just redirecting your interests to another venture.  You can end a toxic relationship, but that doesn’t mean that you have let go of love.  You can end a ministry assignment.  But that doesn’t mean that you have let go of ministry or of God.   After losing a loved one, the constant pain of what was can end; but this doesn’t mean that you have let go of your love for your lost loved one.  Sometimes just lighting and releasing a candle to commemorate a lost loved one’s birthday is a way of journeying on the road to letting go of the pain.  But by no means are you quitting on love.  In actuality, you have enhanced your ability to remember without the constant tears.  One of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 43:18, 19.  It says, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (NRSV)  Think about it.  Can letting go launch you into the new?

I read that when a rocket launches, it has to detach from what’s holding it down.  And there are also things that drop off of the rocket as it ascends towards its destination.  My friends, there is a new place that God wants you to launch to.  Letting go of some things is not a lack of perseverance.  It’s not giving up.  It’s not quitting.  It’s just springing you forth towards the destiny that God has called you to.

Thank you for joining me in these Thursday thoughts.  My last question to you is, “Is letting go quitting?”  Let me know your thoughts on this subject.  I’d love to hear from you.  We’ll talk soon.

Blessings!

Rochelle