Jesus Calling - March 24

Some friends of ours and patients of Tim's gave us the neatest devotional book called Jesus Calling, written by Sarah Young.  We've so enjoyed it!  Today's entry hit home, as always.  It is written from the point of view of Jesus speaking to the reader.  Here's what it said, in part, today:


"This is a time in your life when you must learn to let go:  of loved ones, of possessions, of control.  In order to let go of something that is precious to you, you need to rest in My presence.......
You can feel secure, even in the midst of cataclysmic changes, through awareness of My continual Presence.  The One who never leaves you is the same yesterday, today and forever.  As you release more and more things into My care, remember that I never let go of your hand.  Herein lies your security, which no one and no circumstance can take from you."


The verses that back up the devotional were:


Psalm 89:15 ~ "How happy are the people who worship you with songs, who live in the light of Your kindness!"


Hebrews 13:8 ~ "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever."


Isaiah 41:13 ~ "For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

Did I ever need to read that today.  As I keep packing away part of our things in boxes for storage, and putting another part of our things in the "give away" stack -- I need to constantly be reminded that I need to let go of all those things I cannot keep anyway, and instead cling to God, the One I will never have to let go.  I've reflected a lot about materialism, keepsakes, money, belongings, etc as I have packed.  I never saw myself as particularly materialistic before ~ I mean, I don't "live to shop", I've never demanded the coolest things (well, except the laptop I'm typing on right now.....) and I love to get a bargain.  But, seeing all the things we have that we don't actually need - the overabundance of things and STUFF.....I've been a little convicted!  I've thought back to when I bought various items, back to when I thought getting those things was so important, be it certain school books, or clothes, or baseball gloves.  So much wasn't really used that much.  So much of it just wasn't needed anywhere nearly as much as I thought.  So much of it could have been skipped and we wouldn't even have missed it.  

I'm finding, the more I let go of things, the easier it becomes to let go of more.  At first, it was difficult and painful to put things in the "give away" box.  Now, it is growing much simpler.  I'm finding it a freeing process - I almost feel lighter with every box.  

Each day I've been reading different folks' thoughts on trusting God, clinging to Him, not being attached to our possessions, etc.  This has helped.  And today's devotional reading helped so much, as well. What a great reminder:  As I release more and more things into His care, He will never let go of my hand.  I can rest secure in His Presence.