Letting Go

All of my life, I have been able to make quick connections with people. There is just something about people that I love, and fellowship has always been one of my favorite things. Galatians 5:13 ( For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.) lays out the importance of community and love for one another. We are all called to love others and have fellowship with each other wherever we have been called. However, we must remember that our call to love one another through service and encouragement is not for the ourselves or the people we serve, but that it is always for Christ and for the glory of God. It is easy to say that we are willing to follow God's call no matter what, and it is even easy sometimes to physically go where He is calling you, even if it means leaving your friends and family behind.

What's difficult is bringing your full heart and mind to that mission field with you. Deciding to follow Christ wherever He calls you isn't just a call to physically get up and go, but it is a much stronger call than that. When we do get up and follow Him into our respective mission fields (I'm not just talking about foreign countries, I'm talking about college choices, jobs, or anywhere else that takes us away from what we have come to know as comfortable), we are called to let go of everything that is holding us back, including the people we are closest to. In no way am I saying that you completely break off communication with everyone, by all means continue to serve them in Christ-like love whenever your paths cross. Yet, if we continually dwell on the people we left behind or the relationships that could have been had if we had stayed or done something different, we are hindering ourselves form giving our full attention to our mission and to the Gospel. We have adopted a culture that feels sorry for ourselves when we have to leave people behind and say goodbye, as if we didn't leave due for an incredible call from an all-powerful God that is far greater than anything we could ever hope for if we were to walk through life alone. We need to stop reluctantly accepting God's call and then complaining about what could have been! Titus 3:3 says, "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another." The story of mankind ending with that verse is what could have been. What could have been is that we were left in our sin, without a savior, and we all would spend eternity in Hell.

But praise God that our story didn't end there. Christ did come. Christ died for our sins and rescued us from ourselves, and now God has sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us in His plan. So don't grumble and complain about the relationships that could have been and the opportunities we could have had. Without God's plan, we would be dead in our sin. His plan is far better and greater than ours, so what if we have to sacrifice things in this life? Yes, it is difficult. It is tough. I love my friends more than anyone, and I've had to say goodbye far too many times than is comfortable. Luke 9:57-58 tells us, "As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." There is a price. A difficult price. But in Mark 10: 29-30, Jesus also promises us "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the Gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age and in the age to come, eternal life." Does it not seem like the sacrifice is worth it?

To truly be obedient to God's call for our lives, we must be ready to let go. Not to let go of our love for people or relationships, but to let go of our dependence upon them. To let go of our expectations of relationships. To let go of our need for worldly love. If we can do that, and truly be obedient to our heavenly call, Jesus promises us so much more. His love sustains us, and no matter where we are called, we will have His love. That is all we need. Of everything else, we must let go.