The “good” things are the hardest to let go of.
The “bad”? They seem to be easier to give up. Once His Spirit has been gracious to bring conviction, by His grace, I run from the sin. These blatant sins are easier to spot; easier to hate.
But the “good” things—the ministries and the serving people and the relationships—those are harder to kick to the curb. They are harder to spot as dangerous.
Too often, I hold to them tightly—seeing the opportunity and good that is coming out of them—while God gently calls me away; I ignore the signs that it is time to let go.
There are many things in my life that are really good things, and most of them are done with people I really love to be with.
But I am only one person. I cannot do it all, as much as I would like to think otherwise.
So, I beg for clarity. I take a look again at what He has built me for, to be sure that I am serving and leading out of His gifts to me.
And as He leads, I choose to let go. Though as I move forward, a part of me still holds tightly—I want to be able to do it all.
As I let go of some of the good things, I have let go of many of my writing commitments, in order to have time for the merger over at Do Not Depart and my ministry with Kat at Inspired to Action. I am thrilled with where God is leading these ministries, and want to be freed up to do them well.
Maybe you are feeling like you have too many “good” things going on, as well? What do you do to help evaluate and decide what stays and what goes? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
If you are feeling unsure of whether or not you need to take a break, here is a great post from a while back by Emily over at Chatting in the Sky: 8 Ways You Know it’s Time to Take a Break. I could identify with several of these warning signs, and I thought this post was well-articulated and encouraging. Enjoy!
This is so good! and so tough to wrestle with. I struggle with feeling trapped into working because our little family needs the money. I would love to say no to that but can’t. It’s the worst feeling! I also struggle with not having enough time to say Yes to the things I want to say yes to. You know? So I guess I have a different perspective right now but I think I have always taken the feeling of relief as an answer from God that it was time to walk away from a certain thing. I give you a lot of credit for walking away from your writing commitments that could have propelled you forward into “bigger and better things”. Thanks for writing!
Thanks, Christina! It is a hard line to walk, where we are not tossed back and forth by our ever-changing emotions, but knowing that God does use our feelings to reveal His will.
I’m thankful that He is in control, even if I drag my feet to do His will.
Appreciate your encouragement!
I so understand this. In fact, when I feel it’s time to walk away from something good, I feel like I grieve for it. {Maybe that’s normal…} Thanks for this. Where I am right now. 😉
I feel that grieving too, sometimes. For me, it is usually that I have placed that thing in a place with too much importance/significance on it. So, I grieve the idol being taken away…
‘…grieve the idol being taken away.’ Hmmm…got me there. Never thought of it that way before. I was clinging to it rather than to God…maybe? Thanks! Gonna chew on that a bit…
this is beautiful encouragement katie … i pray it blesses many!
Thank you, Tracie! Praying it blesses, as well.
Thanks for reading!
Excellent post I know in my spirit it is going to bless some people because letting go for us can be so hard and yet we have to because God knows what is best.
Dear Katie, I didn’t read this post as soon as it arrived in my inbox (I subscribe via email), but the title has been haunting me for days, and I just came back to it now.
I am having to let go of something I really, really love. It is a good thing, too, but yes, it has become an idol. And I am struggling to bring myself to that place of finally letting it slip away.
Thank you for writing this and for your encouragement.