Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.
I watched my one-year-old grandson trying to imitate his older cousins. They were skipping stones across the bay. Quinn would put a pebble in his hand, and no matter how much we tried to instruct him, he just couldn’t let go of the tiny rock.
Letting go is hard for us big people too.
Like my little grandson, we will never know the thrill of a new adventure until we release our grasp. Dr. Henry Cloud writes in Necessary Endings, if we want to move forward, it requires ending something, leaving it behind. As a recovering holding-on-er addict, I can testify to that truth. In fact, I believe God put me smack dab in the middle of a job that requires me to let go of students I’ve come to know and love every 15 weeks. He’s taught me letting go doesn’t mean the end of the world. Seasons come and go. Growth requires changes.
No place in scripture describes the natural cycles of change more clearly than the third chapter of Ecclesiastes. We can’t simultaneously plant and pluck or gather stones while casting them away. We can’t let go while we’re holding on. Every season, it says, holds its own beauty. Living fully means capturing the beauty in each stage. A task we can only accomplish when we realize the works of God alone endure (v. 14).
We become better at letting go when we recognize God orchestrates every ending and every beginning for our good.
Although most of our attachments involve letting go of things safe and comfortable, sometimes we can get stuck ruminating in disappointments. I recently experienced a whole slew of discouraging circumstances, culminating in the theft of my wallet. Typically, I would hold on to those disappointments as tightly as Quinn held on to his rock. I would let that spirit of discouragement hover over me.
But the Lord intervened. He helped me let go of all the feelings of hurt and confusion, empowering me to embrace a new season of his redeeming love.
He will do the same for you, friend. If there are people or situations in your life you need to let go of, let Jesus help you. Ask him to teach you how to skip those stones across the water.