There’s an old story that goes like this: A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day, when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet.   He couldn’t hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something.  “HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? “HELP!”   He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice. Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?”  “Yes, yes! I can hear you. I’m down here!”    “I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?” “Yes, but who are you, and where are you?”   “I am the Lord, Jack. I’m everywhere.”   “The Lord? You mean, GOD?”

“That’s Me.”

“God, please help me! I promise if, you’ll get me down from here, I’ll stop sinning. I’ll be a really good person. I’ll serve You for the rest of my life.”

“Easy on the promises, Jack. Let’s get you off from there; then we can talk.”

“Now, here’s what I want you to do. Listen carefully.”

“I’ll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do.”

“Okay. Let go of the branch.””What?” “I said, let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go.”
There was a long silence.
Finally Jack yelled, “HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?”

Sometimes we’re like Jack hanging on by a branch…or twig…and we’re afraid to let go.

Worry is all around us.  Look, there goes worry now with your medical bills.  Made you look!  Isn’t it interesting that worry is all around us and many times we allow it into our lives, hearts and minds?  You might argue that we don’t really want to allow it into our lives yet it seems to find a way all by itself.  Stresses of life, difficulties, and anxieties have been around since Adam and Eve stressed about which fig leaf they were going to wear after they were kicked out of the garden.  We struggle daily with these stresses in our lives but do we really have to?  Are they a part of you and me?  Do they dictate whether or not we will sleep tonight?

Truly Jesus’ words about worry are for all of us today, when He said; “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  (Matthew 6:31-34)

We are spoken to directly from the Son of God in this passage and told not to worry…so why do we still continue to struggle with this issue in our lives?   Could it be that we have not relinquished control over every part of our lives to Him?  Could it be that our trust of God and his providential care only goes so far and then we take back our control again?  I have found this to be true in my life, all too often and ashamedly so, I have allowed God to work in my life up to a certain point, only until something or someone gets the better of me and then WHAM I’m taking charge and trust of God goes out the window.

Learning to trust God in all aspects of our lives is very difficult.  It was never meant to be easy.  Yet, when we relinquish control and allow Him to lead and to handle our areas of anxiety and fear we can begin to grow and fully mature in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

Do you have worries today?  Then: Let go!  Let go and allow God to accomplish something amazing in your life!  Just…let…go…!

Founder and first General of The Salvation Army William Booth once said, “The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.”

There is an old saying that goes like this; “No Pain, no gain”…have you ever heard it?

A number of years ago, when I was still playing soccer and desired to play at the collegiate level and beyond, I began having trouble with one of my knees.  No matter how much I stretched before and after our practices, I inevitably came away sore and concerned that my years of playing my favorite sport were over.  It finally got so bad that I consulted a doctor who in turn referred me to a physical therapist who specialized in sports injuries and recovery.  He took a look at my knee, frowned, and then said something that shocked me.  He said; “I’m sorry I can’t help you…”  There was suddenly a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, my dreams seemed dashed and I pulled myself up from the table completely and utterly defeated.  But, my physical therapist wasn’t finished speaking.  “I’m sorry I can’t help you…because you have to help yourself!”  He finished saying this and looked at me with penetrating eyes.

What?  What did that even mean?  For a moment the darkness that had initially descended upon me with what I thought was bad news slowly dissipated.  Was there still hope?  My physical therapist went on to explain to me that he could show me how to heal my knee, but the work, the pain and effort would have to come from me.   I would have to decide if I was going to follow through with it.  There would not be a quick fix, no secret remedy; it was going to be a lot of sweat and tears.  I considered myself an athlete and was familiar with that old saying “No Pain, no gain”, but I wasn’t prepared for the pain and hard work that lay ahead of me.

Every appointment with my physical therapist began with thirty minutes of full out effort on a stationary bike, followed by stretching that ached every muscle and some muscles I never knew I possessed.  After which, he showed me a series of weights that I would need to lift with my leg while focusing my effort on my hurting knee.  It hurt, I did grimace many times, stopping to catch my breath and dull the screaming pain.  Every time I stopped, however, my therapist would encourage me, he would push me…sometimes I would hate it, but he kept reminding me he couldn’t help me if I didn’t do the work.  I thought he was a slave driver, a real mean, uncaring person, but his promptings kept me going, kept me focused and finally I would complete my workout, very sore yet slowly mending my injured knee.   After many appointments, frustrations, and tough encouragement I finally felt whole again.  I had been mended.

Physical therapy is a lot like our Spiritual walk with God and that of Holiness.   His Holy Spirit comes along side of us, identifies damaged areas of our lives and prompts us to do something about them.  God has all of the power, encouragement, and strength for us, but He too looks us in the eyes and says, “I can’t help you… if you don’t help yourself.”  It’s not an indictment, but a focused statement to get our attention to remind us that we have a real choice to make.  God can change us, transform us, renew us and make us whole again, but we have to want it!  We have to have the desire for Him, and that of the image of Christ reflected in our lives.

Holiness is extended to us all, as children of God, but we have to want to change, we have to want to surrender our afflictions and our marred selves completely to the task of Holiness.  Yes, Holiness is God’s transforming work and power He gives to us, but our responsibility lies in our measure of surrender.  Holiness without surrender is like physical therapy without the drive to get better.   Romans 6:22 says, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”   Becoming a slave to God brings us face to face with our inadequacies, our imperfections and God’s deep desire not to leave us there in our broken state, but to transform and make us whole. But we must decide if we will let Him begin this therapy of holiness in us.  The pathway is painful, there will be difficulties and discomfort but to reap such a reward of Christ-likeness and complete surrender is priceless and this is what He desires from us all.  Remember: “No pain, no gain!”  Let’s do this together!

Sometimes we need a wakeup call.   As we shake cob webs from our eyes, lifting the heavy weight pressing against our brains from slumbering visions. 

The darkness of before sun rise might as well be groaning to us in the dull emptiness of breaking dawn. 

This is my bitter pill in the swill of body aches and still sleeping children down the hall.  This routine repeats for four more days and then a reprieve for both myself and the sleeping ogres that I’m about to awaken.  Moans of protest echo down the hallway making the dog nervous as yawns escape seemingly ready to shatter window panes withdrawing then repeating again…until cereal bowls make their parade entrance on the kitchen table meeting the jingle and jangle of falling flakes or cereal, a breakfast of champions they say although we all feel like the loser in this particular round.  But the bell has rung, we, with slightly crumpled clothing and half the socks that we need, convey upon this early morning to engage education, heavy traffic and for me bottomless cups of coffee hoping to fill that vacant void of sweet alluring dreams and soothing pillows and down filled blankets…it’s a cold comfort at the moment…yet perhaps by noon the slumber will be shaken from our eyes, our day will become brighter, reality a little safer…but for now just pour me another cup of coffee and let’s get on with it.