Angela Benson
I borrowed part of this post title from Claudia Mair Burney because I wanted to add my two cents. Hers is a post well-worth reading so you may want to jump over and take a peek. I’m going to pull-out just a couple of paragraphs here. She says near the end:
. . .what I’m hearing is a whisper saying, “Let go.” And you know what, I’m going to do it.
I have no idea what will happen. I have no idea if I will write another book. . .I am tired of fear and desperation. They don’t change a thing. The Big Let Go is about not knowing what will happen. It’s about knowing God. It’s an intimacy thing.
This passage caught me because it describes exactly the way I felt as I was making the transition to Christian fiction back in 1997-98. Actually, it’s about the way I’ve felt at about every major decision point in my life. The questions change but the answer is always the same.
I hate to admit this but Claudia’s post also reminded me of the chorus to the old Toni Braxton song, Let it Flow:
Just let go
And let it flow, let it flow, let it flow
Everything’s gonna work out right,
Ya know
Let go, and let it flow, let it flow, let it flow
Just let go
Sometimes we think of “letting go” as losing control, but I like to think of it as going with God’s flow. It’s not losing control (which we never really had anyway) so much as realizing your place and learning to operate in it. It’s sorta like being on the back of a motorcycle. You trust the person driving and about all you have to do is go with the bike. Once you let go of the fear, it’s pretty easy to do. If the bike leans left, you lean left. If it leans left, you do the same. You just take your direction from the bike. In other words, you go with the flow.
The words to the song, Peace Like a River also came to mind:
I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul,
I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.
Now I’m got this image in my head of being out on the open road on the back of a motorcycle, the wind in my face, completely at peace, going with the flow. I don’t know what’s in the road ahead but I trust my driver so my peace is undisturbed. I’m enjoying the ride.
Oh, to keep that peace at all times. That’s my goal — an undisturbed peace.
Disclaimer: I’ve only been on the back of a motorcycle twice in my life and, though I wanted to enjoy the ride, I was scared out of my wits both times.
Peace is simple, but hard to come by. Allowing God to do that which he will do is simple, but hard to do.
That’s the way we function as humans, we make the easy things seem so hard. And well you know the rest. I pray for peace and guidance every day and I’m still learning to go with the flow in God’s operation.
Great blog!
I don’t know about riding on a motorcycle but I do know about God’s peace. Years ago, He taught me that when I was at a major decision point, if my decision lined up with the Word and His will for my life at that point, I’d have a sweet sense of peace. That knowledge has become like a compass. If I start veering off the path, of His Word or His will, my peace-meter starts going wild. As I draw closer back to Him, the peace-meter settles down, eventually coming to a halt.
Be nice if I could say I start right at that “due-North” point but I don’t. At least I know how to read my compass.
Angela,
I was going to go back and read Claudia’s post today. Publishing is a shifty business but in the end, God and His word are always a sure thing. All we can do is do our best and as Claudia says…let it go.
I’m still learning that ‘the peace that passeth understanding’ is what I need and I’m still realizing that it goes against ‘my’ nature; that’s why it takes so much work to get it, and that’s what makes it so worthwhile to have.
You got me with this, Jennifer: Peace is simple, but hard to come by.
I think you’ve said it for all of us. We tend to make the simple things hard.