Are You Willing to Let Go?

Day 18 of 21-Day Sugar Fast

Are you willing to let go? For change to happen, sometimes we have to let go. Holding onto stuff can weigh us down and hold us captive. Whether material items, emotions, relationships, thoughts, ideas, desires, whatever it is, in order to move forward and walk a new path, we need to be willing to let go.

During my first 21-Day Sugar Fast, about halfway through, the Lord revealed to me He wanted me to start letting go of one thing every Thursday. Bob Goff does this and the first time I heard about this, I thought he was crazy. Now, I’m doing the same crazy thing.

For five months now, every Thursday I let go of something. In fact, I created a spreadsheet to keep track of what I let go. My journals highlight in green all my Let-Go Thursdays. That’s what I call them: Let-Go Thursday.

I chose the color green because green means “Go.” I may be letting go, but the purpose of letting go is so that I can go forward.

Every Thursday, I pray and ask the Lord, “What am I letting go of today?” The myriad of things He’s had me let go of fascinates me. It started with letting go of one cup of caffeinated coffee each day because I discovered caffeine negatively impacts my body and brain function.

I desire to have a healthy brain too, so since July 8, I only drink one cup of caffeinated coffee each day. It’s possible that the Lord will ask me to let go of all caffeine, but not yet. He’s extending lots of grace to me because He knows I like coffee.

My Let-Go Thursday List

Here’s a few more things I’ve let go of throughout the last five months:

• Books
• Burdens I’ve carried for my family
• Irritability (I seem to pick this one back up from time to time, so I’ve had to let go a few times.)
• Old sweaters
• Old workout shirts
• Shoulds and have-to’s
• Emails to reduce my inbox clutter
• Photos and videos on my iPhone to free up storage
• My idea of flooring for our workout area in our family room (We will be getting rubber flooring after all.)
• Green and brown walls (Now, fresh white paint lives on most of our interior house walls.)

And of course, sugar. I’ve let go of sugar during two 21-Day Sugar Fasts. I don’t know yet what my diet will consist of after this 21-Day Sugar Fast, but I can say, my body thanks me for letting go of it for now.

Are You Willing to Let Go?

The Bible says that we should throw off everything that hinders and easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1). In order for us to run the race marked out for us, sometimes we truly need to let go. Are you willing to let go?

It’s not easy to identify what we need to let go and what we need to keep, but God is very clear there is a time to do so. In fact, Ecclesiastes 3:6 says there’s “a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away.”

Why do you think God wants us to get rid of stuff? I think because too many things can hinder us and hold us back. We get stuck. We can’t move forward into something new because we’re unwilling to let go of the old.

Jesus says that He makes all things new, but how can He if we aren’t willing to let Him make something new in us and for us?

The Joy Set Before Us

One of the hardest things I’ve had to let go of this year isn’t sugar. It’s been ideas, emotions, and self-centeredness. I want what I want when I want it. Ouch! Thankfully, the Lord is gracious to us and He understands that letting go is hard for us.

Like when I let go of all the emails cluttering my inbox. What was difficult was using my precious time to do so. I didn’t enjoy using my time to delete thousands of emails, but I enjoyed the result: Less than 100 emails in my inbox is now my norm.

Or when I had to let go of my little kids’ bedroom I had created for my grandkids so that our oldest daughter could move back home. I have a crib in my writing room, changing table and dresser in our family room, and artwork that never got hung now resting in storage. But, the joy of helping our daughter and having her home far exceeds anything I’ve had to let go of for now.

Have you ever considered that letting go opens up the pathway to joy? The joy set before us requires us to search, to give up, and to throw away.

What are you holding onto that may be hindering your new path forward? What can you let go of that will clear the path of joy set before you?

Are you willing to let go of the old so Jesus can bring in the new? I hope so. Letting go is changing my life in ways I never expected.

I’d really like to know if you let go of something after reading this blog post. Because one other thing I about Jesus, He celebrates when we let go of the old. I’d love to celebrate with you too.