Stillness….with open hands

Someone told me once that if you hold on too tightly to what you have, God can’t give you the new thing He has for you. Open your hands. Let Him remove the old and give you something new. That was not hard to hear at the time but it has been hard to live. Fear of loss has caused me to hold on tightly to many things — friends, family, jobs, money, youth, ideas and possessions. But when I loosen my grip or, as the old folks would say, “Let go and let God”, the blessings become clear.

Have you ever tried to forcibly open someone’s hand that does not want it to open? It’s difficult, almost impossible. Nothing can come out but also nothing can get in.

I’ve learned to take everything to God in prayer. And in that way, let go. Open my hands. Trust God, that he loves me and has my best interest at heart. And He will work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

I’m learning painfully, slowly, to live life with open hands. To see what God takes from me (perhaps something good that can help someone else) and I’m watching to see what new thing he puts in my hands.

Often we think we have to keep things forever. We think we need particular relationships from the moment of their beginning through our entire lives. We think we have to be who we are today for the rest of our lives. We think our personalities are set for our whole lives. We think we have to live the same way year after year after year. None of that is true. We are meant to grow, to change, to improve and in this journey there is transition. Change. Always change.

Change can be hard. Sometimes fraught with tears and gnashing of teeth and white knuckles and screaming. But just like childbirth, the pain has a purpose and when we get through it to the other side, we can look back and understand it better. Sometimes we won’t be clear on this side of heaven. But that, too, is God‘s plan.

What are you holding tightly in your hands? What is no longer serving you that you need to let go of? What relationships have served their purpose, as far as you can discern, that need to let go of or change in a major way. Take it to God in prayer. Open your hands. Let go and let God.

Still, Jai