I Recommit...

And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. — 2 Chronicles 34:31, ESV

King Josiah had just heard the Book of the Law read to him for the very first time. His response? He tore his clothes (24:19). He was scared and was in mourning because he and the people had not been following God according to his written word.

After hearing it read, he made the commitment stated above. And as I read it tonight, I made the same commitment to God. I have already surrendered my life to Christ, receiving his precious Holy Spirit and the gift of salvation. However, my "recommitment" to Christ tonight is not something that I will do every once in a while. Rather, it's a recommitment that I want to make every day. I want to live my life according to God's revelation for holy and right living as stated in Scripture. I want to live as one who is truly in a covenant relationship with God, understanding what he has done for me and the life that he has called me to. I will do whatever it takes to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all of my heart and all of my soul, to perform the words of the covenant that is written in Scripture.

So, I recommit.

What about you?

Message from IGNITE

Here's the message that I preached from IGNITE on September 8th. I pray that it's a blessing to you.

Brian Holland IGNITE 09-08-12 from Brian Holland on Vimeo.

Legalists Always Kill The Celebration

"So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether this man is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." — John 9:24-25, ESV

The Pharisees could not get past this one thing: Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath by making mud and putting it on his eyes. Jesus doing "this kind of stuff" on the Sabbath always ticked them off. And honestly, I think that's why Jesus made mud. He didn't have to make mud. He could have just spoke and the man would have been healed. He didn't have to make mud and send him on a journey to go and wash his face. He could have just touched the man and left it alone. But he didn't. He ticked off the legalists of the day for a purpose. And what was that? To tick them off.

Through all the questioning of the man whose sight was restored by Jesus, the legalists couldn't celebrate with him because of the fact that something miraculous had happened outside of their prescribed and permitted activities. You see, Jesus didn't break any commandment of God regarding the Sabbath. Rather, he broke the added-on commandments created by the legalists, who elevated their own traditions and permissions to the same level as God-ordained commandments.

So they brought the man in a second time with an agenda. Jesus was getting too much credit for this. There was even division within the Pharisees who were there about what just happened (see John 9:16). And they start off sounding so pious and religious: "Give glory God." And before he could, they stated their opinion of Jesus: "We know that this man is a sinner." So in their minds, the way to give glory to God was to declare Jesus (who is God) to be a sinner because of the fact that Jesus performed the miraculous on the Sabbath, breaking their man-made and too highly elevated opinions. The man responds to their declaration, and it is beautiful. He simply says, "Whether this man is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." It's almost as if he said, "I don't really give a rip whether this man is a sinner or not. All that I know is that I can see because I met this guy." LOVE IT!

What should have been a day of celebration was stripped away by a group of men who had already decided (see John 9:22) what to think about Jesus no matter what Jesus was going to do. This man couldn't celebrate in the miraculous because the religious leaders of that day wanted the miraculous to be undone. The miraculous superseded their personal preferences and traditions, proving that God didn't give a rip about their personal preferences or traditions either.

I want to celebrate when the miraculous happens. I want God to open my eyes to the countless ways that he is intervening in the lives of people so that I can celebrate with heaven rather than sit in joyless skepticism with the legalists of today who can't see the miraculous of God because they are so enslaved to their traditions. I want to celebrate with the liberated. I want to see Jesus do the incredible. I want to sit in quietness of soul, reading his word and listening to his Spirit to know him better, and then see him at work in the world doing what he does best: the miraculous. And I want a front-row seat to that every day.

I want to be part of the celebration, not the kind of Christian that others ask, "Who invited that guy?". As a recovering legalist, I want to see legalists of today freed from their bondage of religion and dance in the dance that Jesus has invited us to: a relationship with the God of the universe.

I want to celebrate.

Who Made That Out of Legos?

This video is actually 7 minutes long and I watched the whole thing. That's right: I watched the whole thing. It is absolutely amazing what people made with Legos.

And as I got to about 5 minutes into the video, the thought came to me: Why is it natural for me to think that people made this amazing system out of legos while so many imagine the universe, and everything in it, coming together by chance? As intricate as this system is in the video, it doesn't even come close to compare with the complexities of the human body.

Just something to think about. I'm thankful that God is the Engineer of engineers, no matter if some don't want to give him credit for it.

Prayer for This Week...

Hey all,
Here's how you can be praying for me this week.

Tomorrow night at FLOOD I am teaching from 2 Chronicles 33. While I was away last week at Hume Lake, I read this passage in my quiet time and the Holy Spirit just made it pop out at me. Since then, I haven't been able to shake it and sense him leading me to teach it at FLOOD. So please pray for me as I pray through, prep, and preach this message.

Thank you so much for praying.

God's Extreme Kindness

"The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God." — 2 Chronicles 33:10-13, ESV

Manasseh was the son of Hezekiah, the king who had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD, carrying out reform to bring the people back to God. After Hezekiah died, Manasseh became king at the age of twelve and his character came out loud and clear when he took the throne.

And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD... For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem shall my name be forever." And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. — 2 Chronicles 33:2-6, ESV

He went the complete opposite direction than his father had gone. And God was angry. But notice the beginning of 33:10 - The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. He called out to them. He was wanting to talk with them but they ignored his word. So he went to the next step. He brought up the Assyrian army who captured Manasseh and led him away with hooks.

This was God pouring his wrath out on Manasseh. This was God handing him over to the commanders of the army of Assyria. But why? Why would God go to such extreme measures?

Because of his kindness.

In Romans 1 Paul brings up the topic of "the wrath of God." After the wrath of God is mentioned, there is a phrase that is repeated a few times: God gave them up...

• "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts..." (Romans 1:24)
• "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions..." (Romans 1:26)
• "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done." (Romans 1:28)

God gave them up. But why? Because of the fact that "God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance" (Romans 2:4).

Notice the response of Manasseh after being captured and led away with hooks. He humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He humbled himself. And this led him to do the following:

• he entreated the favor of the Lord...
• he prayed...

And God's response: "...and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom" (2 Chronicles 33:13). God was moved. God forgave. God restored. And this is what he still does for us today.

I am not saying that every bad situation is thrown at us by God. Some of it is just life, but God's sovereignty is still over "just life." There is a purpose in the pain. But I will also admit that there are things that God hands to us for the purpose of calling us back to himself. As hard as the situation is, his kindness is the motivation of his heart. Kindness? Yes. As far as Manasseh was from following God, God went to extreme measures to get his attention, bringing him back to a "relationship" with himself. And it worked, because after of this "Manasseh knew that the LORD was God" (2 Chronicles 33:13).

God's response to Manasseh's rebellion seems pretty extreme. Think about it: God used an army to get Manasseh to stop long enough to make him see what he was doing. But when has God not used extremes to get our attention or to accomplish his will? Remember the cross? That act of Christ suffering on behalf of mankind was extreme, excruciating, and horrible. But when we see it from God's perspective, that act of wrath was motivated by a heart of kindness, for God so loved the world...

I don't know about you but I'm thankful that God's kindness is so extreme.

Miracles As Confirmation, Not As Foundation

When therefore [Jesus] was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. — John 2:22, ESV

Miracles.

They are so exciting. When one happens (and I believe that they do all the time) no one knows what to say. We use the word miraculous so often, but when it is truly the miraculous, it is obvious because the only response that comes to mind is an inability to respond. Everyone's mouth is open but words aren't flowing. Verbal descriptions seem unable to describe the moment. Tears usually do a better job than words when it happens.

What are some miracles?

People being healed. People being rescued and protected. Water turning into wine. The Red Sea splitting so the Israelites can walk across it. The greatest: Jesus' resurrection. You know: all those cool stories in the Bible.

But, for one example, I also see the sunrise and sunset happening every day as miraculous. Think about it. Our earth is spinning at 1,000 mph while traveling around the sun at about 66,000 mph. Then on top of that, our solar system is traveling around the nucleus of the Milky Way Galaxy at around 540,000 mph. The fact that we aren't just chaotically spinning through the universe blows my mind. I see that as miraculous. But it's become mundane.

But the miraculous, as amazing as it is, is not the foundation to our faith. The miraculous is rather confirmation of the fact that God is still interacting with us. It is not what our faith stands on.

God's word is the foundation.

It is God's word that reveals to us the nature of God. It is God's word that explains the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. It is God's word that describes our fallen nature and God's remedy for our plight. It is God's word that explains times of God's intervention with man. It is God's word that explains how Christians should live. It is God's word that explains God's character. It is God's word that introduces us to the new life that is found in Jesus. The miraculous? Just confirmation of what God has already been telling us.

The response of the disciples to the resurrection of Christ was not another emotional experience, followed by another experience and one more to come later. Rather, the response to Christ's word was a belief in the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. They believed what was said because of the miraculous that they experienced. The word of God became the foundation that the miraculous built on. It was never meant to be the other way around.

So what's our response? Spend time with Jesus in his word. Come to a conviction that his word is true. Look for the miraculous every day to point you to a confirmation of the validity of the word of God. Read the Bible. Study it. Enjoy it. Wrestle with it. Argue with it. Agree and disagree, but always submit to it. Why? Because it is the very word of God. I'm convinced that even the act of reading the Bible can be miraculous when you actually hear God speaking to you through it. His presence, as we read his word, is confirmation of the truth of his word, not the foundation for out faith.

So, be excited when you notice and experience the miraculous. Be excited that the miraculous is about to happen, but stand on the foundation of Scripture. It is that foundation that holds you up during the times when you can't see the miraculous happening.

The miraculous confirms the Bible. It has always been that way. And that will never change.

LEADERSHIP: Let That Sink In and Scare You

"For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the LORD." — 2 Chronicles 28:19, ESV

The Lord humbled a whole nation because of the evil leadership of the king. A whole nation experienced punishment because of the lack of Godly leadership by Ahaz.

And this humbled and scared me.

I am called to lead the ministry that God has entrusted to him. Those whom God brings into the ministry have been entrusted to me to help lead them along as they pursue Christ. Some come in knowing Christ and some come in completely against Christ. However, no matter where each person is in their journey of following Christ, I am called to help them further on in that pursuit.

The weight of that responsibility really hit me this morning as I read this passage (2 Chronicles 27:1-28:21). Two kings. Two different directions in their leadership. Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and then accomplished things that were beneficial for the people of Israel (even though the people still followed corrupt practices [27:2]). Ahaz, Jotham's son, did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He even made metal images for the Baals, and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel (28:2-3).

The response of God to the leadership of Ahaz was this: "THEREFORE the LORD his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria,..." (28:5). And all of the people were affected by it.

So it made me stop and reflect on my call as a leader. I'm humbled. I'm overwhelmed so often. The thought of having influence does scare me, but the call to lead is obvious and one that I have accepted. I want to be a leader who thinks through the fact that every decision that I make has an affect on others. I want to lead in such a way that I am a blessing first and foremost to Jesus, and then a blessing to those that I lead.

These verses from Titus stand out as strong reminders of the high calling of leading others as stewards of God's flock:

For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (1:7-9, ESV)

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. (2:1, ESV)

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. (2:7-8, ESV)

I wrote these words in my journal after reading and thinking through this: "But leaders, who never humbly think of their high calling and responsibility, may be the worst and most careless 'leaders' around." 

The call of leadership hit me this morning. My reaction to it: fear and humility. And I'm thankful that my reaction was such. But, I will lead as I follow Christ. I will take God's counsel that he gave to Joshua, apply it, step up to the call, and lead as I am lead.

Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:6,7; ESV)

The Danger of Strength. The Gift of Pain.

"But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God..." — 2 Chronicles 26:16a, ESV

Strength. Ease. Comfort.

These are what we strive for. These are what we pray for when the tough stuff hits. These three things probably make up the majority of the prayers that we pray for ourselves and others.

Is it wrong to pray for these things? Not at all.

• Strength to continue in the work that Jesus called us to.
• Comfort given as we face trials and as pain interrupts our lives.

I want people praying for me like this when I'm in need, but I want to be open to the way that God decides to answer their requests.

Uzziah started off well. It says in 2 Chronicles 26:4 that "he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD,..." At 16 years old he became king and started off well in God's eyes. But the problem came when he was strong. Strength is needed to accomplish an overwhelming task. However, that strength can also lead us toward conceit and self-reliance. These character traits are not connected to the life that God leads us into. Rather, they lead us away from God. That's why Paul so thankfully could write this in his second letter to the church in Corinth:

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harm me, to keep me from becoming conceited." — 2 Corinthians 12:7, ESV

What was the thorn? No one knows. Many people have their opinion but no one really knows. And honestly, do we really think that Paul wrote this verse so that people could sit around and argue about what that thorn actually was or to encourage us toward accepting God's gracious provision of thorns in our own lives to keep us from becoming conceited?

Could it be that God's most gracious and loving act could be given to us through a most annoying and painful trial? Could it be that the very tool of God to move us forward in the journey with Christ we pray against, constantly asking for comfort from it? Even Paul prayed that God would take that thorn away, but he asked three times and left it alone. When he knew God's answer to his request of releasing him from the thorn, he accepted it as God's gracious gift and said,

"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." — 2 Corinthians 12:9b-10, ESV

Content with weakness. Content with insults. Content with hardships. Content with persecutions. Content with calamities.

Content   | eudokeo |

1. be pleased with
2. enjoy, take pleasure in
3. prefer, choose as better

I look at that statement from Paul. I look at the word that he chose to use (content) to describe his heart toward his suffering and struggles. I look at this and admit that I have a long way to go. There is still conceit in my heart which is why God blesses me with the "thorn in the flesh" as a most gracious gift.

Thank you Jesus.

The Idolatry of Ministry

I didn't understand it.

Attendance at FLOOD had been strong all summer. I was so excited for this new series that we started on Wednesday night called, "What Jesus Doesn't Like About Church." I just knew that crowds of people would show up for this series, especially college-aged people.

The attendance was the lowest that I had seen in a long time. And it hit me. Discouragement came over me like a wet blanket. I couldn't shake it. I went to bed with it hanging over my head. I woke up in the middle of the night, once again being greeted by discouragement. The next day, more of the same.

So after dropping my boys off at school, I drove to a nearby park to have a life-changing "quiet time" with Jesus to figure out the problem. But when I got to the park, a lake about 40 minutes away came to mind (Lake Gregory in Crestline, CA). So, I got in the car and went there.

When I made it to Lake Gregory, I grabbed my chair and Bible and find a sweet spot right on the lake. And so I was ready for the secret to seeing growth multiply like never before at FLOOD. But the problem that was brought to me was not a quick fix for it was not a simple dilemma.

I opened up my Bible to where I stopped a couple of days before. 2 Chronicles 20. And here's what "popped out" of the page at me:

"Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah." — 2 Chronicles 20:3, ESV

He set his face to seek the LORD. And I began to sense the Lord leading me to look at my own life. And the truth of the matter was this: I haven't been setting my face to seek God. Rather, I've fallen back into the duties of following Christ instead of simply loving and relating with Jesus. I had become the very person that I had preached about the night before at FLOOD (see Revelation 2:1-7).

I had become an idol worshipper, and my idol of choice was not technically a "graven image" or some fake deity that demanded sacrifices upon sacrifices to appease it's angry temper. Rather, my idol is called "FLOOD." That's right: the ministry that God has allowed me to lead the past few years has become and idol that I put all of my focus and attention on to "see it grow."All of my efforts and most of my adoration has been spent on a ministry rather than the God of and over that ministry.

I sat there embarrassed. I confessed my sin of idolatry. I remembered how things were before they got so complicated. I repented of that sin, the sin of forsaking my first love, and changed things. One way I changed things was to schedule out my times spent with Jesus before I did anything else. I want to be a man who sets his face to seek the LORD.

The main problem with allowing ministry to take the place of God in your life is that you're always disappointed with ministry. There will always be something that didn't go right or an event that didn't have enough people show up to it (because if I'm really honest, there is always room for one more person to show up). Disappointment and discouragement set in and affected the other aspects of our lives.

So I repented. I came back to that which I knew. I surrendered completely to Jesus once again. I don't want to be consumed by failures or achievements. Rather, I want to be consumed by Jesus, and then follow his lead to see his dreams become a reality. Pete Wilson says it this way:

"Surrendering doesn't mean we spend less energy on pursuing our dreams, but it does mean we spend less nervous energy. It means we see our dreams for what they are—possibilities and promises and goals, not sources of our peace and security. It means our confidence is no longer in our ability to achieve each one of our dreams, but in the strength and power of the God we claim to follow" (Wilson, Pete, "Empty Promises", pg. 153).

To completely surrender is tough for a person who likes as much control over a situation as possible (and if you missed that, I'm speaking about myself). What if I completely surrendered and then everything went south? What if I surrendered, worked hard and then everything failed?

And then I received a Facebook notification. And it showed a good group of people who liked my post from that day. Here is that post:

"But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded." — 2 Chronicles 16:7, ESV

And I knew it was Jesus.

So, I confess to you my idolatry in order that I may be free from of it. I am tired of "doing ministry" with this constant check box and grade book attached to every movement that I do. I confess my need to achieve to feel valued. I confess that I am no more of an expert in ministry after almost 20 years as I was the first day I started (the only problem is that I knew what I was doing that first day of ministry - or so I arrogantly thought).

So, I'm getting back to loving Jesus. I'm getting back to my relationship with him, and my time with him in his word (this morning) was absolutely mind-blowing.

And I learned this: "Our dreams, no matter how great or noble they may be, always make lousy gods" (Wilson, Pete; "What Jesus Doesn't Like About Church", 153).

SO FLOOD FAMILY: I love you more than you know, but I love Jesus more than you could imagine. I am all in for Jesus. I am sorry that I once again fell into what we studied on Wednesday night at FLOOD, achieving so much for the kingdom that I actually neglected my relationship with the King. I ask for your forgiveness, for I desire to help you go deeper with Jesus, but in order for that to happen, I have to be diving deeper into Jesus myself.

I can't promise an increase in attendance at anything that we do. But this I can guarantee: Jesus will be present and lives will be changed, no matter how many show up.

I love you more than you.

What a ride,
Brian

PRAYER FOR THIS WEEK...

Hey all,
Here's how you can be praying for me:

This Wednesday night at FLOOD we are starting a new seven-week series called, "What Jesus Doesn't Like About Church." It's a seven-week look at the seven churches in the book of the Revelation. I am SO excited for this series. Please pray as I prep for, pray through, and preach this message. Thank you so much.

And thank you for praying for IGNITE. It was absolutely EXPLOSIVE!!! Seriously. I couldn't believe how incredible the evening was. We are already planning and excited for our next one (January 26th, 2013). Thank you again. I'll be posting videos and photos of the evening as they become available.

ONE HEART: Connect with God

On Wednesday night at FLOOD I preached on our new vision for the ministry (Connect with God. Connect with others). The first core value within that vision is this:

ONE HEART: Connect with God.

This core value is the first priority—the catalyst— of everything that happens in our ministry. We want people to connect with God.

I have a desire to see every person who is a part of what God is doing at FLOOD to connect with God in a meaningful way, every single day. I want to help create an atmosphere every single Wednesday night at FLOOD where people can come in and encounter God in a real way (of course I can only do my part — God decides how to connect).

This is the first thing. Connect with God.

Have you connected with God today? I would love to hear your story of how you connected with God at some point this week, whether in your personal time with him or at a worship service somewhere. If you would leave a comment below about how you connected with God and what that was like for you, I would love to read about.

IGNITE is COMING!!!

It is just around the corner. Ignite is this Saturday (5:00-8:00pm at PFB Church). Doors open at 4:30pm with free giveaways (the grand giveaway is a new iPad). Check out the video to see what IGNITE is. Check out www.igniteusnow.com to get more information. Bring everyone you know.

Here's How You Can Be Praying This Week...

I am so excited for this week coming up. Last week was wonderful and God did some great things. But I'm excited to see him do even more this week. Here's how you can be praying for me this week:

1). On Wednesday night at FLOOD, I am preaching on our new vision for FLOOD. I am more excited about this vision than I have ever been for any "vision" for ministry in the past. Why? Because it's personal. For the past almost 20 years I have piggy-backed off of the visions of other ministries. However, this one I feel like God gave to me personally for FLOOD. It only took 20 years. Please pray as I prep, pray through and preach this message. Please pray for the FLOOD family, that every person would get on board with the vision and that we would see the greatest ministry ever since FLOOD began.

2). IGNITE is this Saturday (www.igniteusnow.com). We have an incredible worship event planned. Shane Carroll (Lead and Teaching Pastor, Pure Young Adult Ministries) and I will be teaching at this IGNITE. Ryan Hall (Living Waters Church) and Ashley Beckford (Christ Church of the Valley) will be leading worship. Please pray that God would bring Christians from all over the valley (and beyond) to come together for this. Pray for God to move in such a way that we are moved to ministry. Come be part of it if you're free this Saturday at 5pm at PFB Church.

Thank you so much for praying.

Just Let Go

"Be still and know that I am God..." — Psalm 46:10, ESV

"The Hebrews word for 'be still' literally means, 'let go.' It tells us to cease striving at the level of human effort" (Wilson, Pete, Empty Promises; Thomas Nelson, Nashville. pg. 88)

Just let go. Do you remember the first roller coaster that you ever road? I'm not talking about the little kids one. I'm talking about one of those big ones. My first one: Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland. And honestly: I was terrified. Even though I was riding it with my parents, I was still terrified. I had never been on anything so fast (even though I wasn't aware that driving to Disneyland meant that we actually went faster on the freeway than on Thunder Mountain). The first time was scary, but there was an excitement still. And then I went on it again and again. And then I became more brave. I actually let go of the crossbar and put my hands in the air. That's right: NO HANDS!!!

Remember when you could do that? Remember when things were simpler — those days when you were younger. You just knew that everything would be okay. To let go of the crossbar on a roller coaster was a thrill. You didn't think about the "what if" but rather just let go and accepted whatever came.

Do you ever wonder if God is trying to get us back to that place again when it comes to our walking with him? "Let go and know that [he] is God." That's it. Those things that are scary to do. That line that is difficult and intimidating to cross. He may be calling us to finally let go of the worries that entangle us. He may be calling us to LET GO!!! So, LET GO!!!

"Be still and let go of your own understanding.
"Be still and let go of your own human efforts.
"Be still and let go of your desire for more power.
"Be still and let go of your need to control outcomes.
"Be still.
"Be still and be reminded that you are finite... but God is infinite.
"Be still and let God be God in the most intimate places of your life. Because in the end, that's the only power that will change anything" (Wilson, Pete, pg. 88).

So... LET GO!!!