2003-04-25 - Loosen Your Grip

A tenacious grip can send a baseball careening out of a stadium, but it wouldn't bode as well for a golfer. For the Christian, in dealing with the things of this world, we should play it more like a golf game.

I have been volunteering as a Victim Advocate in our District Attorney's office for about a year. When I responded to the ad in the paper, asking for volunteers, I wasn't seeking money or a position. Rather, I yearned to do something to "give back" for all the blessings I have been given, something that would dovetail with my abilities and interests. In fact, in most circumstances, I wouldn't even consider working for pay - for several reasons. But since I hadn't sought it, it blended so naturally with my abilities, passions (to help crime victims, for example) and my boss graciously offered to work with my schedule of other commitments, I felt God was dropping this immense blessing into my lap.

Notice anything that stands out about the situation? I wasn't clinging to this job. I was loosely holding it. And the blessings were given to me, in abundance. I believe the same principle applies in all of life. I have found that to be true in this devotional ministry, in friendships that I have held loosely etc. They usually thrive. And conversely, when I have clung to something with a closed fist - not wanting God to have any say over it, it has usually turned out disastrously or ended.

Think about things in your life - relationships you have clung to, jobs, possesions. Don't you often find that when your grip is tight, God can't do His best work? I don't mean "can't" as in "is not able," for of course God is sovereign. But He rarely pushes His will on us. Often, relationships wither or die, jobs don't turn out as we had hoped etc.

I urge you to look at your life and see what you are clinging to. The only thing we should really cling to with our mind, heart and soul - is our relationship with God.

Jan

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