Letting go and letting God

There's an age-old question that seems to be puzzling people worldwide. Men and women young and old have struggled with the dilemma for almost twenty years. Surveys have been held and discussions had in order to try and get some answers. Why did Rose not just let Jack on her piece of wood when the Titanic sank to her watery grave? Surely there was enough room to play a card game let alone save her apparent beloved? Also, why was she wearing the life jacket when she was NOT the one sinking...the mind baffles. But the question that bugs me, and has bugged me since seeing the film when I was ten years old, was this; WHY DID SHE LET GO?! (After whispering the immortal words; 'I won't let go Jack' - er yeah sure pal, you couldn't wait to get rid of that dead weight...). The rest of the film I spent crying at the demise of Jack; the floppy hair, cheeky, charming, poor boy became my ideal man - but I couldn't get Rose's words out of my head; 'I won't let go'.
 
   Hopefully none of us will ever have to experience such a traumatic time as that of Rose and Jack, but I'm sure there has been points in our lives where we have held onto things; we haven't let go. In the scene with Jack and Rose, there would have been no way that Rose would've managed to swim to safety if she had held onto Jack. Although she loved him and didn't want to lose him, in the end she realised that to ensure her own safety she would have to let him go. She swam away from him as he sank to the bottom of the ocean. She'd spent the whole film chasing him and even jumped out of the lifeboat for him, but now as it came to it, she left him to save herself. (I bet this is the first time you've seen a Titanic reference relating to God).
       Is this not something we can see in ourselves? Do we not have things in our lives that hold us down; things that hinder us from getting to safety? Are we stopping ourselves from becoming all that God wants us to because of these things that hold us back? This struggle is something in which I have experienced in the past and still experience today. There are parts of my life that I can't seem to let go, parts that I don't want God to have. Some of them are due to enjoyment, others due to fear (I'm scared what will happen when I let go). I give as much as I can to God, just not those parts that I want to hold onto. I know I'm meant to and sometimes I can even trick myself into thinking I have done it, but I haven't. I still let myself be ruled by these things that do not have God in them. I really struggle to let God in. My anxieties and fears were the worst; as much as they crippled me I felt safe in them. I knew what they were and how they controlled me, so letting go of them - as much as it would offer freedom - terrified me. I refused to let God into that part of my life. I didn't let to of it, I would come to God still holding onto it. I was never able to experience proper freedom.
      But like Rose with Jack, I had to let go to get to safety, to be able to call out to God and let Him take me up in His arms. It's a struggle, it's scary, you sometimes don't want to do it - but you need to. You need to know that this is the only way you can get out of it. Self-help books can only go so far. You need proper freedom that only God can offer. I know it's easier said then done, I still struggle with it, but I promise you - the freedom you get from Christ is a freedom like no other; you can breathe again. Things that drown you and pull you down, never letting you grow WILL be broken and cast off. Chains will be broken. When you call out for the father to come and take all of your life, when you call for help - casting off the shadows He will come and rescue like. I've mentioned it in a previous blog of how incredible God can be, how He can save you from drowning, but I'd also like to mention how, when we come to God we are able to break things forever, because He is our help.

'May your hand be ready to help me.' (Psalm 119:173)

'My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.' (Psalm 121:2)

'May those who love you be secure.' (Psalm 122:6)

It is a difficult process -to let go and let God, but it's a beautiful one, when God is totally and utterly in everything we do, it becomes a struggle to do things that are not Holy. One of the key things to do is give things to God through prayer and petition. Don't just stop at things you are comfortable in giving, get uncomfortable. Become vulnerable with God - allow Him to do work in an uncontrollable way. Give your life to Him and let Him have power. His will over yours.

We are aware that God helps us and that He rescues us from the dark places, but we almost must remember it doesn't stop there. He breaks down the walls of years of suppression, He does not let us be ruled by the things un-Godly anymore. Come to Him and let that chains be broken. Abandon your heart to your father and let go of the things that can pull you down.

Blessings.

May
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