We all know this is the key to following Jesus and receiving all he has for us. But when things are going well, it’s really hard to give them up. Prolonged suffering loosens our grip.

I remember one time God gave me a picture of me standing on the back of a moving truck, heaving all my possessions overboard. Here was the progression the Holy Spirit led me through:

1. I let go of my pursuit of comfort. I don’t need to be safe. I won’t try to control my life. You can manage my money.

2. I let go of my hurts and disappointments. I will not hold on to resentment or bitterness.

3. I let go of my grudges and judgements against others. I release them. They owe me nothing. I owe them nothing.

4. I let go of my sins. I won’t wallow in self-pity or believe they can separate me from You.

5. I let go of my favourite sin. Take it away, God. I will never do it again. It’s not mine anymore.

6. I let go of the ministries I’m involved in. You can have my job too. Anything that brings me significance is yours.

7. I let go of my reputation. I don’t need to be known as righteous and good.

8. I let go of the people I love, who you’ve put into my life. I release responsibility for them to You. (I’m willing to help.)

9. I let go of my hopes and dreams. There are so many ways I want to serve You and love others. They are yours now.

10. I let go of my love for the poor… Oh, what? I can keep that? OK.

11. I let go of your promises over my life. (Really!?) The prophetic words that have driven my decisions for years. The things I’ve sacrificed dearly for.

12. I let go of needing to hear your voice, wanting to be sure I’m going in the right direction.

I can’t remember what else, but you get the idea. The interesting thing was that he led me not to just get rid of the bad stuff, but also the good.

Abraham, our model of faith, lived this story. God told him to sacrifice his son, which is bad enough. But his son was the only way to fulfill God’s promise in his life of having multitudes of offspring.

This just happened to me again this week. After the appropriate amount of suffering, I gave up some things which were central to God’s call on my life. It felt like giving up, or giving in, or even losing faith. Like, I was holding on to the promises of God. How can I let go? These are on his heart and he’s commanded me to do them.

Three days later (it’s not always this fast) I got it all back. And more. And better than I could have ever imagined. I’m still in awe. Who is this God? So far beyond my thinking.

This is what Jesus modelled for us. His death didn’t make any sense. But he trusted his Father and let go of his life, his disciples, his ministry, his family and friends. Everything. And it turned out really well for all of us for all eternity.