Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you. Psalm 55:22
Todd and I are watching two loved ones wither, closing in on Heaven’s gate. And they want comfort—something to soothe their aching souls. The hardest part for both is letting go of their independence, their control, their freedom. They are siblings nearing ninety.
Letting go is painful. But holding on can be even more so. When we fight against things we can’t control, when we kill our spirits trying to control, where is peace? Where is hope?
We sat with both this weekend and I wanted to learn. I wanted to learn how to let go. And I don’t want to wait till I’m nearing ninety to feel peace and have hope in every circumstance God allows in my life. So what’s the secret?
Accepting the cross. Accepting the inevitable crosses that God’s loving hand permits for the sake of learning to let go and let Him care for us completely. Isn’t this one great purpose of the cross? Didn’t Jesus let go completely when He said, “Into thy hand I commit my spirit.” and “It is finished.”? He let himself go into the Father’s care. Will we follow in His holy footsteps? Will we let go of everything to which we cling—to which clings angst?
Only if we trust the one who promises to catch us when we loosen our grip and let go.
The greatest crosses—the best crosses—are those more painful than I alone can bear. These crosses drive me, nail me fast to the heart of God in a way nothing else could. When I come face-to-face with my absolute weakness—my absolute inability to control—to hold on—I find peace in letting go because I find I’m always caught by grace. I’m always embraced by holy love. And when I find myself in this place, nothing else matters. I could die to anything. Nothing else matters. But just like God’ promises, death brings new life—richer life. Every death brings a better life when I let go to God. When I have nothing, I learn God is everything. And I don’t learn it in my head alone. I learn it in every fiber of my being because I experience it personally.
There’s no better way to really know God, to really know His love and peace, than to let go in our weakness and cast ourselves fully into Him, for He is pure love and peace. We’ll never know such grace fully as long as we stay on shore in our fears and refuse to cast off.
