Judson W. Van DeVenter (1855-1939) was raised in a Christian home. At age 17, he accepted Jesus as his Savior. He graduated university and was employed successfully as a teacher and administrator of high school art, besides that he was very involved in the music ministry of his church. Eventually he found himself torn between his successful teaching career and his desire to be a part of an evangelistic team. This inner struggle lasted for almost five years. In 1896, while conducting the music of a church event he finally surrendered his desires completely to God -- He made the decision to become a full-time evangelist. As he submitted completely to the will of his Lord, a famous Hymn was born in his heart “All to Jesus I surrender all to him I freely give” After his personal surrender God used Judson mightily.
In the 80’s as a young Christian I remember singing this song passionately, but now a days we seldom sing that Hymn in our worship, even when we sing it, if we are truly honest with ourselves we might want to sing “I surrender some but not all” But there are certain people who don’t want to surrender anything, just like the strong man of Libya Moammar Gadhafi who is defiantly yet desperately holding on to power while Libya is slipping away. I wonder why he can’t just simply let go of his power and yield to the demands of the people.
When it comes to think of it many of us are afraid to let go isn’t it? None of us want to be in a position where we don’t have power and control over our situation, surroundings and our very lives. Let’s face it, loosing power and control is a frightening thing. But in spite of all that God is calling his children to live a life of complete surrender and trust in Him or in other words letting go of our control. What does letting go mean? Why do we have to let go? What are we to let go? What does the Bible say about letting go? And what are the benefits of letting go?
I. WHAT DOES LETTING GO MEAN?
The phrase "do it yourself" came into common usage in the 1950s in reference to home improvement projects which people might choose to complete independently. It was a good thing for a nation and the world recovering from the impact of the Second World War. That DIY motto no doubt has encouraged entrepreneurship, brought forth human ingenuity along with it the height individualism. In the process we have come to believe that “man is invincible” if only he puts his mind to it he can do any thing. In other words this mind set says, “I can do it by myself and I don’t need anyone’s help, certainly not God’s help. It is a wrong mind set. Can you really live without the outside help? While I am aware that man can fix many things I also realize that he can’t fix everything. Those who are fighting addiction can attest to this, that they need help. If that is the case how foolish for Charlie Sheen the actor turned cocaine, crack addict to think that he can fix his own addiction problem. Can he really? Only the time will tell.
Like Charlie Sheen many are fighting to fix their own problems and clear the mess they have created, often by the poor choices they made in life. It is OK to try but in the long run certain problems or addictions don’t go away by just trying hard. We need divine intervention. Enough is enough, I can’t do this anymore on my own, I am letting it go into the hands of God. What does letting go into the hands of God mean? It means to yield ourselves, to give up, submit, abandon, relinquish, entrust or surrender our whole life in to the powerful hands of God.
I know this may sound scary and highly threatening for many. But the truth is when I let go of my life into the hands of God I will have no regrets. Contrary to the world the scriptures tell us, only in loosing we gain, in letting go we find, in giving we receive, in dying we live and in forgiving we will be forgiven. Andrew Murray the 19th century South African teacher and pastor rightly said, “God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.”
II. THE BIBLICAL BASIS OF LETTING GO:
Surrender, give up, let go, die to your self, relinquish, submit are not necessarily the words we get excited to hear; why because there is certain cost associated with those words. However they are very essential for a Christian. The essence of these words cut through the pages of the Bible. Let me share a few biblical scriptures where God is calling us to Let Go.(LG)
When King Asa was surrounded by a vast army he called to the LORD and said, 2 Chronicle 14:11 "LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you,.. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you." What a powerful scripture of reliance upon God.
God pronounced a curse on those who seek for help outside of him. Isaiah 31:1 “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.” This scripture warns us against depending on the military or human intelligence so heavily.
No matter who we are we all have one thing in common that is suffering. When hardship hits us we try to fix it ourselves if we can, or seek help either from the church, friends or government. But some hardships are beyond any human intervention. God allows them for a reason. The apostle Paul explains the reason why in 2 Cor 1: 8 “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”
Some of you might be going through hardship that is beyond you. Remember that God may be trying to get your attention so that he can teach you how not to rely upon your strength and how you can let go of that particular hardship into God’s hands. When we go through troubles we have a choice.
We can either carry the world on our shoulders, like the Atlas did or we can say, 'I give up, Lord; here's my life. I let go of myself into your hands.” You can either run your own world or let God run your world. The difference is huge. The difference is huge. Let me assure you that God’s hands not only can carry your personal world but also the whole world. Why is it so important that we need to let go of our lives? Jesus modeled a life of letting go and commanded that we should do the same. Let’s read this in Luke 9:23- “Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” It is paradoxal isn’t it? If letting go is so important; what are we to let go off?
III. WHAT ARE WE TO LET GO?
The scriptures suggest that we are to completely surrender our lives to God and follow Him whole heartedly. But practically what does that look like. I suggest that we let go of the following things. Firstly, we have to let go of our past.. You can’t take back your past; whatever is done can not be undone. But you certainly don’t have to live with the consequences of your past for ever. The other day I watched a brilliant movie, “Homeless to Harvard”. Based on a true story. Liz Murray was born in the Bronx, New York, to poor and drug-addicted parents who would later each contract HIV. She became homeless just after she turned 15, when her mother died of AIDS, and her father moved to a homeless shelter. But her story did not end up in a homeless shelter she went on to graduate from Harvard University.
Here is a story of some one who did not let her terrible past dictate her future. We may never know whether Liz Murray ever turned her life over to God. But if you let God come into your life, he can heal your past hurts and give you a fresh start. You can have a bright future.
Secondly, we have to let go of our need for vengeance or retaliation. The scripture tells us not to seek for vengeance. Lev 19: 18, “You shall not take vengeance nor bear grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.” Why God doesn’t want us take vengeance? When we do that we are stepping into His territory, God says, “Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, in due time their foot will slip.” Due 32:35.
But some of us can hold onto bitterness, resentment for a long time always looking for ways to get even. The longer you are vengeful and unforgiving the longer you will be miserable. In the end it will only hurt you. Therefore it is about time you let go of those who have hurt you into the hands of God. Thirdly we need to let go of fears of all kinds. There are over three hundred scriptures where God says to his people, “FEAR NOT”. When God is for us who can be against us? God can put all our fears to rest.
Lastly, we need to let go the cares and concerns of both our present and the future. If you look at the unfolding world events the world is anything but a safe place to live. If you think we are safe just because we live in America we are mistaken. Calamity could hit any one at any time. In a matter of seconds our lives can slip away. This became amply clear when I saw the worst earth quake in the history and a 23 feet high Tsunami ravaging Japan, killing and injuring hundreds of people. How about our future? It is definitely not in our hands. We don’t know what tomorrow may hold, but we know who holds our tomorrow. Jesus said, don’t worry about tomorrow. We are encouraged to cast all our anxiety on Him. In closing; A life that is fully committed to God; has nothing to fear; nothing to worry; and nothing to regret. Amen.
