Relinquish is the word that I heard God speak on Easter. . He got my attention with this one.. I don’t use this word in conversation..I knew it came from Him.
So what does it mean? It is bigger than letting go..it comes closer to surrender. It seems to me that He is asking me to stopping holding on to things that I desperately want and really give up on trying to make them happen. Very hard for a “doer” like me..I always want to make things happen..I get satisfaction from being able to help people..connect people..figure out a way to contribute..add something. Not bad things in themselves..but dangerous when God is really wanting to be at the wheel.
He wants a deep part of me to trust Him..the part that still enjoys figuring out what will happen next..and the way it will happen. He is drawing me to a place inside where I have no answers..a place that scares me. It means taking bigger risks with Him.. trusting Him with things that feel completely out of control.
The whole process is very humbling..I need God much more than I ever imagined. It challenges my individualist nature and my strong personality. Who am I if I really rely on God for EVERYTHING? Do I have a part? What does He really want when He says relinquish? I am writing so I can discover the true nature of this word and receive it.. then I can move forward with Him.
Has He said something similiar to you? What does it truly mean to relinquish everything to Him? .. feel free to comment, I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, or experiences.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”
Alicia's Roses 
This connects very strongly with me Alicia. We find it very hard to really trust God, I mean to REALLY trust Him; just letting go each day and letting Him work in our lives; what if He does something we don’t want, or involves us with people we don’t like, and so on and so on?
I was once very headstrong and highly opinionated, whether anyone wanted to hear it or not! In some senses, this is a part of who I am; I do seem to stand out in many cases even when I try very hard not too. I’m trying to be a successful author, at least to earn my living as a writer, when none of my family has ever done anything like this before. I’m also a Christian but don’t as yet go to church and don’t have any family or friends who are in any way Christian either. I’m a ‘one-off’ whether I like it or not!
What is it we most fear about completely trusting God? I wonder. Is it just like closing your eyes and walking down the street and trying to cross the road, without seeing the traffic or who is around you? Perhaps. Why are we so untrusting?
There is a dichotomy here I think. I think that, in spite of ourselves and our pigheadedness and lack of trust and so on, God does want us to be individuals, not religious stereotypes; we are made in His image after all and whether we like it or not we are all free agents, can choose what to wear, what to eat, what to watch on TV, and so on. I think God respects our individuality in some ways but also wants us to serve Him with a whole heart. Perhaps we’re all on different points in the same journey and we all need to experience certain things before He lets us get closer to Him. I’ve been struggling myself recently, for one reason and several, and this post sums up just about where I am at, at this moment in time.
Thanks for responding to this post Tim.. Your honesty is refreshing. Yes..we find it hard to really trust Him.. even when we think we do..somehow it becomes clear that He wants more.. I believe that is the journey of faith that we all take once we decide He is follow the Lord. His ways are not ours and that becomes more clear with each step we take.
Some things that help..remembering that He has only good things for us..that His love for us is much bigger than we ever realize..that He will be with us in the storms and the dark nights. He has proven Himself faithful to me all my life and I want to continue to take risks with Him until the end.
We are all in different parts of the same journey..as you wrote in your comment. Let’s give support and hope to each other.. that is part of being connected in Him.
Blessings,
Alicia
Hi Alicia,
Just read your post and found it interesting about you hearing a word which you feel God is speaking to you. I had the word ‘procrastinate’ come into my mind out of the blue some years ago and recognized it as probably coming from the Lord because that is what I was doing at the time, procrastinating. I was building up picture poems and cards, bookmarks and booklets that I had created and doing nothing with them. At that time I was keeping my friend company some days while she was cleaning some student bedsits and one of the students gave me a poem. It spoke of the same thing, putting things off all the time. I was also attending a business course in which a lady had come to see our crafts. She said ‘Why are you doing nothing with them? You be careful you don’t miss the boat’. As she said those words I realized that I had a leaflet with poetry and scripture contained in it, that I had put together, in my bag. I use them in evangelizing in the street. I gave it to her. At the time I thought that it meant to be careful that I didn’t miss the boat as far as starting a small business with my crafts were concerned, but the opportunity never came up for me to do so. I now realize that I was being told to be careful that I did not miss out on what God was trying to get me to do, not what I wanted to do. Since then I have done my utmost to do what He wants me to do. I go out into the street with my friend and our leaflets, which we absolutely believe that the Lord has had us put together, meet the most amazing people,and feel completely fulfilled. I have found more and more that ‘ seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you’ is very true in my life. I am very strong willed by nature, but becoming as a child, seeking God through His word and trusting that He knows best is improving my life in a most amazing way, even though on many occasions my mind would question it and give me a very different picture.
Brenda
Thanks Brenda.. for commenting. I love your story. Isn’t it something how He speaks to us and guides us in such amazing ways. I love the words that God uses with me..often they are things I would not even use or say and suddenly I realize He is speaking straight to my heart. I have been relinquishing things for the past few months and it is so freeing. I’m glad you commented..it helped me to remember how important that word is right now!!
Blessings,
Alicia