Thought for Wedensday, July 17th

July 17, 2013                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

You Gotta Know When to Hold ‘em & Know When to Let It Go

 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians  3:13-14

“Holding on to the baggage of the past will disable you for your journey with God.”

-          Henry Cloud

Many people tend to find themselves living in the present by virtue of clinging to their past.  Whether it is a moment of great success or an instance of intense hurt: often those things overshadow the potentials and possibilities of what might be right in front of us at the current moment.

There is much to be said and great wisdom to be gained from the experiences we have in life: however, we cannot allow those moments and events to become a deterrent or obstacle to the potential of what is available for us and to us in the here and now.

This propensity for not letting something go is not only prevalent in our natural day to day lives: but it also tends to find a way to sneak into our spiritual lives as well.  And in this respect we can sometimes allow, what is perceived to be the spiritual experiences of others, to influence, affect and sometimes overshadow what God wants to do in us right here and right now.  We are all challenged to work out our own salvation and to have a personal relationship with God that is ours: so we need to be careful not to try to live or to refuse to live what God wants for us because of what has happened or is happening in the life of someone else.

The key to success in our own spiritual journey is to always remember yesterday is gone, tomorrow may not get here (in the literal sense – not the spiritual) and today is what we have as a gift and blessing from God – so we need to let go of what was; be open to what is and always remember to ‘Let Go and Let God’ do those things that will make us the best we can be for Him based on the unique and special person God created us to be.

While we can always take from our past to enhance and improve our future we can not allow those things which were to be, or overshadow or even prevent those things which could be, by God’s grace, mercy, leadership and love.

Prayer:

Father, help me to retain the value of lessons learned, while letting go of yesterday’s success or last weeks hurt or failure; and keep me open to the potential of your miraculous here and now.