Sometimes You Need To Let Things Go In Order To Grow

Sometimes you need to let things go, in order to grow

(The rich young ruler

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Have you ever had an ‘apostrophe?’ Captain Hook’s first mate gets an ‘apostrophe’ or an epiphany. He has an “aha moment!” His eyes are opened to something new, a new way to look at things.

I believe that God wants to give us ‘epiphanies’ throughout our lives. Paul even prays that we would have the ‘spirit of revelation or epiphanies’ in the first chapter of Ephesians.

Epiphanies can come different ways. They can come while you are fellowshipping with another Christian. They can come while you are listening to a sermon. Epiphanies can come while you are reading God’s Word. Epiphanies can come when you are having a quiet time. We just need to be able to recognize them, and learn to respond to them. The Holy Spirit is always ready to help us through life and giving us ‘aha moments’ is one of His favorite ways of doing this.

Epiphanies add flavor to life. They prevent you from doing the same old thing all the time. They prevent you from following the same old patterns through life. Epiphanies can change life from being boring to an adventure! Often epiphanies show you areas you need to change or areas you need to start looking at differently. They help you think ‘outside the box.’

This past Saturday I had an epiphany at the 5K race. I was running as fast as I could; trying not to quit and as I was running, three ladies from our church walked right past me! They were walking as I was running, wow, that was humbling! Something was wrong with that picture. I began wrestling with that, ‘God, am I missing something here?” Then at the end of the race my two sons Jason and Paul ran the final ¼ mile or so and my son Jason said, “Dad you need to open up your stride.” I said, “I would but every time I come down on my knee it feels like a sledge hammer is hitting it. I can’t take longer strides unless I walk. Then a ‘light went on.’ Then I had an epiphany, “If I walk I can take longer strides, if I take longer strides I can go faster. I can walk faster than I can run!” It was an ‘aha moment.’ I kept thinking about it all day Saturday and Sunday and Monday. So Monday morning I got up and decided to see if this epiphany was really an epiphany! So I walked the exact 5K again, guess what? I can walk faster than I can run!!! (I know you are all asking how much faster? But I am not at liberty to share that, since that information will give me that edge I need to beat Allen and those three ladies next year!!!)

So now I am making a total life change and mental adjustment regarding my exercise program. I am giving up running, at least for the time being and taking up walking. Now for those of you run and exercise, you can relate when I say that is not an easy thing to do. Because at least when you run a 5K you get some kind of satisfaction telling someone you ‘ran’ the 5K. I know it is vain but it is true. It just sounds better to say, “I ran the 5K’ than it does to say “I walked the 5K.” But I have a choice to make. The question is, ‘Am I willing to give up this way of looking at things, am I willing to give up my ego, am I willing to change, in order to grow?”

Here is today’s sermon in a nutshell. “Sometimes we need to let things go in order to grow.” Say several times. Sometimes we need to ‘give up, to grow up!”

Epiphanies can help direct your life. They can change you, but you need to be willing to give them up. We need to let things go in order to grow. Are you willing to let some things go in your life? Do you want to grow? You need to let them GO.

This is a very important life principle. Today I would like to take a look at a story in the Bible, Mark 10. It is about a man who was not willing to let things go, and therefore he could not grow!

Get rid of your ‘rival kingdoms”

Let’s turn to Mark 10:17-29 and read. This guy had it all. He was rich, he was young, and he was powerful. He was probably even handsome! But he was a truth seeker unhappy with his legalistic, performance oriented, graceless religion. He knew there was more to this life than here and now. He knew that eternity needed to be prepared for. He wanted to go to heaven and have eternal life. So he comes to Jesus for an answer. Jesus challenges him to keep the commandments. The young man says he does. He is telling Jesus, “I am a good person,” like lots of people would say today.