Let Go And Let God

As children bring their broken toys, with tears for us to mend, I brought my broken dreams to God, because He is my friend. But then instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone, I hung around and tried to help, with ways that were my own. At last, I snatched them back again and cried, "How can you be so slow?" "My child" He said, "What could I do? You never did let go." --Author Unknown

 God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful worldas it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things rightif I surrender to His Will;That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with HimForever in the next.Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

 So many times in life we have things that we feel that we cannot solve. We worry and stew and make ourselves anxious and sick from the worry. What can we do to change this? We can let go and let God. What does that mean? It means what the poem above says or what the serenity prayer says. It means that to concentrate on what you can do and let God handle the results. Now you can call all there is God, the Universe, The Great Spirit, whatever makes you comfortable but there is a power greater than ourselves that can if asked and waited on in faith show us the way.

 Many times in this busy society of ours we want to do much more than we are able. We do not concentrate on living in the moment. We do not strive for excellence. We treat our lives like it was a race to see how many things we can juggle at once and see how many things we can get done each day. When what really works is to do the things that we can do each day, each hour, each moment with zest and enthusiasm. If we do each task with excellence then that task is a success. Success builds on success.

 I have learned some different tricks to help me let go and let God handle the results over the years.

1. Living one day at a time. Yesterday is gone I cannot change it, tomorrow is not here and I do not know what kind of information I will have tomorrow or what the situation will be so no use trying to live tomorrow. We only have today.

2. Putting all the future things in a God box. What is a God box it is a box that I have decorated and put all future problems into, once they are written down and put in the box then I do not look at it only once a month. When the problem comes to mind I say to myself I cannot think about that for I have put it in my God box and God is handling it now. I am always surprised at the end of the month when I look in my box how many things I put in there and how many are already solved.

3. I sit in the silence and meditate. I remember that there is only God. There is no other power that can solve this problem. If I meditate on there is only one power and that power is God then I let go of thoughts of lack, disease, and many other worries. These are the thoughts of the ego not spiritual in nature. I remember I am a spiritual being having a human experience. I am not alone and my ego is not in charge of the universe.

4. I use affirmations or positive statements about my situation to change my subconscious mind.

5. I ask in prayer what my part is in this situation. I also ask that anything that is subconscious is brought conscious. This works for me. I believe strongly that we can talk to our mind and anything that is subconscious we have access to if we relax and ask.

6. Even if I do not have a choice about what happens in life I have a choice about how I respond to what happens. I can do the things that I can do and accept the things I can’t, as the serenity prayer so aptly puts it. There is a lot of power in the words "I choose."

7. Wanting to run the show is about control which is an ego issue. It is filled with fear, lack, and competitive thoughts. If we do not control the situation then it will be out of control and we will lose. Turning outcomes over to God eliminates this fear.

There are many other tools that I have learned over the years that I will share in another article but these will get you started or jog your memory so that you can live in the moment without fear and let God take care of the outcome.

References:

The Little Book of Letting Go: A Revolutionary 30-Day Program to Cleanse ... - Page 49;by Hugh Prather

More Language of Letting Go: 366 New Daily Meditations - Page 67

by Melody Beattie

Stepping Stones to Recovery from Codependency: Experience the Miracle of 12 ... - Page 125 By Deb M

Letting Go of Debt: Growing Richer One Day at a Time - Page 6 Karen Casanova

Copyrighted Judi Singleton 2007