PSALM 37:3-7 – Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!”

THEME OF THE DAY:  LET GO AND LET GOD.  Today’s theme sounds good, feels good, might be encouraging words to say to a Christian struggling in life, it contains some biblical truth, and that is the problem with these words.  Truth mixed with error is error.  The partial truth of “let go and let God” is the call to submission every believer is to practice. We are to “let go of control and submit to God’s sovereignty.”  The error is that letting go is not just fatalism and doing nothing.  Quite the opposite is presented in the scripture.  Our submission to God is not passive.  We don’t just sit around inactive in our walk with the Lord as we give all our life’s burdens and troubles to Him.  We don’t just “let go and let God” and today’s scripture shows us how to properly apply submission to God.

First, and foremost, we submit to God by trusting Him – Trust in the Lord.  This is a mindset, even “heart-set” that says, “I may not understand what You are doing in my life, but I know You are good and I trust what You are doing in my life.” Trust is the core element in faith.  We override our feelings by exercising trust in God’s Person and Promises.  Submission to His will begins with trust in Him.

We then biblically “let go and let God’ by committing ourselves, our circumstances, our burdens, and our cares to Him while clinging to the promise that God will act – Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.  But two things are necessary as we do this act of faith.  We must leave what we commit or cast to Him with Him. No fishing. We don’t reel all that stuff back onto our hearts and minds.  The Apostle Peter gives us the “no fishing” verse in his first letter – Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). The other necessary element is don’t put a timetable on God acting.  The Psalmist said, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will act” but he did not say “when” God would act.  We must leave the unfolding of God’s timing to Him, not us.  Submission will do that, leading to the final step of application.

The third and final step of application to biblically “let go and let God” is the hardest – waiting on Him; Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.  Waiting on the Lord does not mean sitting in a corner for some special vision, revelation, or feeling from heaven.  Waiting means persistent prayer drawing close to God, diligence in His Word to know God, and a willingness to allow His providence to unfold in our lives that gives us direction or a decision.  Waiting is never passive.

So, let go and let God.  It is sound advice if we follow the Biblical pattern in its application – trust the Lord, commit to the Lord, and wait for the Lord.  Then, we may proclaim to ourselves the words “let go and let God” with confidence as we submit to Him and His workings in our lives.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to trust You, wait on You, and not try to control circumstances or people in my life.”

QUOTE: “The hardest but most necessary thing to do in our walk with the Lord is submit to Him, then wait on Him.”

In the affection of Christ Jesus,

Pastor Jim