This is what I am looking at now: God sends His goodness to us in packages, or in waves, that just keep coming and keep coming. But if we try to cling to one too long or too hard, we might miss the next one coming our way.
The idea is too plunge ourselves into the wave of blessings He sends. To plunge in with our whole hearts and souls and minds. And then open our hands and hearts for the next one... It will be even better.
Here is part of that thought in the Lady's words:
"I thought," she said, "that I was carried in the will of Him I love, but now I see that I walk with it. I thought that the good things He sent me drew me into them as the waves lift the islands; but now I see that it is I who plunge into them with my own legs and arms, as when we go swimming...It is a delight with terror in it! One's own self to be walking from one good to another, walking beside Him as Himself may walk...I thought we went along paths--but it seems there are no paths. The going itself is the path."
The conversation goes further and she speaks about grasping or clinging to one wave and when she does that she can't meet the next wave and then misses it.
It reminds me that so much of life is learning to take God's gifts with a light hold - grab them and treasure them, and then let them go as He gives us new gifts. Perhaps pass them on, but not to grasp and hoard them.
So much of life is letting go....releasing our hold on people, pets, homes, dreams.....just learning to let go and take the next gift, because there will always be another coming at us.
Sometimes we can't take hold of a new dream unless we let go of the one we are attached - like a balloon -- let it rise and float away -- treasure its memory and watch it leave our hands - then grab the next -
We have lost a number of precious people in our church this year. But God has brought others in for us to love and cherish. We don't ever forget the ones who are no longer with us. We just learn to live
with their memory and thank God with grateful hearts for their time with us -- and then reach out to embrace new ones He brings us.
We must learn to hold God's gifts, not tightly and tenaciously, but with open hands.
Open your heart for the gift I am bringing says the song.
2 Kings 2 gives us the story of Elijah getting ready to leave Elisha, and, in fact, to leave his ministry and this earth. Elisha knows what is going to happen, but he refuses to leave Elijah.
Elijah tells him to "Stay here." Elisha says, "as surely as you live and the LORD lives, I will not leave you."
When Elisha is told, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?" he replies, "Yes, I know. But do not speak of it."
"As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.....and Elisha saw him no more."
"...separated the two of them...."
Elisha tried to hold on to Elijah. When he couldn't, he tore his clothes and then picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen.
He went to the bank of the Jordan, took the cloak and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
The company watching said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha."
But even they would not let go. The verses tell us they decided to go looking for Elijah. Elisha told them not to go. But they went anyway. Fifty men spent 3 days searching for Elijah.
When they returned without finding Elijah, Elisha said, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"
Elisha had finally learned that it was time to let go.
(I just love those words, "Didn't I tell you..?" They remind me of my father so many times telling me something, I argued, went my own way, failed, and then he said "Glorya, didn't I tell you...?" As I remember it, it was always spoken in love, maybe some exasperation, but always in love.)
Much of life, I am finding out, is learning to let go.
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