When that thing you thought was good really isn’t

This week has been a quiet week.  The kids are visiting grandparents, which means not only does activity slow down, but so does my brain.  These not-so-little-anymore people keep me on my toes.  But this week it’s quiet.  My mind has had the chance to drift…a rare thing these days.  And it’s been a good drifting.

The last couple of days, I’ve thought about things that used to think I want.  Things I used to have and don’t anymore.  Things I clung to because I just knew I was supposed to.  It’s easy sometimes to look back on things, position, relationships, status…whatever…that we thought we wanted.  We thought were good.  We even thought were right and best.  But they never happened.  At the time frustration, sadness, heartbreak, were overwhelming, but looking back, it’s a blessing that we didn’t get what we wanted.

Then there are those things, that despite God’s best efforts to redirect us, we make happen.  We’re so convinced that this “thing” is right, that we see things that stand in the way as hurdles instead of red flags and stop signs.  And while we strive with the “good” thing, God has a best that we missed.  The time we spend working it out for ourselves instead of trusting a good a faithful Father who has our best at heart, can’t be regained.  And inevitably, that thing we thought was so good and so right leads to discontent.

But what about those things that were God? They were His best.  In every way He could, He confirmed to your heart that this thing was good, right, best.  There was peace, joy, contentment.  And you felt that peace that comes from being in the center of His will.  But then something happens.  Maybe it was something you did.  Maybe it was something totally out of your control.  But this thing begins to slip away.  You cling on to whatever it is for dear life because you know that this was God’s will, God’s plan.  The more you feel it slipping the tighter your grip becomes.

Here’s the thing.  Whether it’s a relationship, a job, a service opportunity, a position, a place of status…whatever that “thing” is for you…sometimes that thing is just for a season.  Even that thing that has been so right in the middle of God’s will for so long.  That part of your journey is over.

And here’s the thing about that death grip that you’re holding onto that “thing” with.  When your hands are clinched that tightly to something else, they can’t be open to take hold of what God has next.  You have let go.  You have to let go or you’ll never be able to take hold of this new thing God has for you.

Are you in a place right now where deep down you know that it’s time to move on? To let go? It’s scary.  It’s uncomfortable.  But it’s God.  Let go and take hold of what He has for you.  His new thing will better the best you’re letting go of.