Let it Go

I am reading chapter two of The Pursuit of God (Tozer) and I will attempt to paraphrase the chapter in one sentence.  We should let go of our possessions to break the hold they have on us.  Tozer uses Abraham as an example of somebody who put his trust in God.

Genesis 22:9 (ESV)
When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

I am always amazed at how God works in my life to teach me and glad that it isn’t as dramatic as in Abraham’s case.  Here is an example of how he drove this lesson home.  A couple of days ago I was changing the strings on my favorite acoustic guitar that I’ve had for over twenty years.  It should be noted, I’ve been playing guitar for over thirty years so changing strings is nothing new, in fact I do it quite often.  When I got the new strings tuned up I discovered there was now a terrible buzzing noise when I played certain notes.  I tried to figure out where it was coming from but there was no loose hardware; none of the bracing inside the guitar had come loose; I even checked the truss rod in the neck and the conclusion was that it was a major problem inside the structure of the guitar.  I was bummed for a minute and then I let it go and felt okay about giving up my favorite old acoustic guitar.  As soon as I did I noticed that the string that was buzzing was unusually high on the bridge and found that it just needed to be bent.  Normally the tension on the string would take care of making the bend but this string was just a little stiffer at the end.  Once I did that the problem was solved.  God let me have my old guitar back once I was willing to give it up.

But wait there’s more…Today at work they told me I’m getting new office furniture tomorrow so I need to clean my stuff out of my current desk and cabinet to be ready for the swap.  I’ve had the same desk for many years and that was very evident from the stuff I had saved dating back at least to 2002.  Papers I probably could have thrown out when I put them away but instead I’ve moved them with my desk several times over the years.  Why do we cling so tightly to this earthly junk?  I’m sure I have a long way to go and many other things to hand over to God before I can claim to live only for God but this week I took some small steps.

1 Timothy 6:17 (ESV)
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

Heavenly Father,
In Your Word you tell us that you provide everything we need, yet we are stubborn and want to have control.   Why is it so hard for us to let go and trust only in You.  Lord, please help us to have the kind of faith that is required to do this and the patience to wait on You.  This we pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen