"Let It Go" - Why Are You Holding On To That

“Let it go.” – Frozen (every parent’s favorite movie)

There is probably no more iconic line in our society than the three-word, simple sentence, “Let it go.” It pops up on an almost daily basis in conversation – sometimes in a mocking and silly way, but other times it is a wonderful reminder of how we should live life. As my kids are complaining, I dance and sing let it go. As I’m frustrated in traffic, my wife sits beside me, singing that simple line. Whatever the situation, we jokingly remind each other to let things go and not hold on to them. (Something we are good at reminding others of, but not practicing ourselves.)

These last two years have been a game changer for our family that has greatly changed our perspective on things. One of the things that He’s done for me is bring some focus to what I feel like I want the second half of my life to be. It has been a time of change and growth, and a time that God has led me down paths that I never expected.

It has also been a time when God has reminded me of the limited time that I have, and reminded me that we only have a finite amount of time on this path – the question is, what are we going to do? My diagnosis of Parkinson’s has definitely forced me to examine things and ask a lot of questions, and one of those questions has been very simply, “With the time that I have left, what am I going to focus on and where is my energy going to be spent?”

It is also been a period of great self-examination, as I sought the Lord to see how He would use me in this second, and most likely, final stage of life. As He began to examine my heart, I began to see hurts, and pains, and wrongs that I was holding too. Things that I just simply had not been able to let go. Things, that when brought up, instantly caused my blood pressure to rise. Were these issues legitimate? In some cases yes, in others, greatly inflated by me. Were the hurts real? Absolutely. Were they the most important, and were they what I needed to be focused on? Usually not. I discovered in my heart things that I just had not let go. Why was a holding into these things? Why was I giving them power in my life, and why was I allowing them to eat at myself?

These things were very real, but I was allowing them to color everything in me, and affected me more than I realized. In my heart, there was anger I was holding too. Now, I’m not sure if God is a fan of frozen, but very clearly over these last six months, I’ve heard Him very simple say, “Let it go, let it go.” I realize, I was holding hurt and pain I did not need to, and it was not my job to find or get justice. I simply needed to forgive and let it go.

I wish I could say I live this out perfectly now, but, guess what, I do not. When I do, though, it is amazing to me the freedom that comes from this. Instead of living in the hurt and the pain, healing and freedom has taken its place. Have those individuals ever apologized? No, and they probably never will. Has their heart or the event changed? No, all that has changed is my willingness to hold to these wrongs and hurts and let them rule in my heart in life.

Was it hard to let go? Yes. Did I want the person to know that I have forgiven and let go or that the situations were no longer going to hold me? Absolutely, I even wrote some letters to people to show my forgiveness. I wanted to desperately call up and say, “By the way I forgive you,” but that was not needed, all that was required was for me to simply forgive, let go of the past, and walk forward in His freedom, trusting that He would work out what He needs to work out in His time.

He simply reminded me that it was not my job to bring justice, and it was not my job to right the wrong, it was simply my job to trust and allow His forgiveness to flow through me. As I said, it’s not easy, and sometimes it’s a daily process of forgiving. It is not my job to change things, I simply need to trust that His will and His work will be done. I also realize that most of the time, the things I was holding too, in the great scheme of things, are not worth it. All I was doing was harming myself by holding onto these hurts.

The wrongs that we are holding too, whether they be events or individuals, are very real and painful. My question is a simple one, who is really being hurt by holding onto this? Most likely it’s not the person or situation that it is directed too. The reality is, it is only you, and as long as you hold to this, only you will be harmed. So why are you holding to it? Let it go, and let His forgiveness bring healing to you. We all have such a limited time, is this really where you want your time spent? Forgive, and simply let it go – it is a decision that will help you - allowing you to move forward in a much more peaceful, powerful, and healthy way - to accomplish His will and mission for your life.