The Challenge of Letting Go

This is part of the reflection by Kristin Armstrong that was in Living Faith for today:

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it - Luke 17:33

"When God pries open our tight grip on the things we cling to, we find so much more as we finally agree to let go.

"When we value this life and the things of this world over the things of eternity, we miss the entire point. We value fleeting over forever, dust over destiny.

"Jesus is telling us to submit. Submit our daily lives now, and submit out future when our day comes. Let's keep a loose grip in this world, so when it's time to go, we don't look back."

I have definitely found this to be true in my own life, but I think it is one of the hardest things to do. We want to plan, to have some control. We want to hold on tightly to what we have because we don't want to lose it. But God is asking us to turn everything over to Him, and in turn He promises to give us more than we ever imagined. The question always becomes, "Am I willing to trust?" And trusting can be so darn difficult. It is a lesson learned one day at a time, over the course of a lifetime, in the midst of all the trials and failures and successes. Someday, it will all make sense.