Let God, But Don't Let Go

"Let go and let God" is one of those well-intended Christian statements that sounds nice, but doesn't hold up biblically. Of course, we must put our trust in God. We are absolutely dependent upon Him. However, I don't see in the Bible where we are suppose to let go. Paul, who was absolutely clear about God's sovereignty and his dependence upon Him, didn't seem to "Let go and let God."

Consider these two passages:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27, "24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control,..."

Philippines 3:13-14, "...But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

I believe we are to live with a holy discontent about where things are at right now. We should not be the type of people who settle. Who settle in their relationships people, who settle in their relationship with God, who settle for their friends being eternally separated from Christ, who settle for mediocre ministry within the church, and the list goes on.

I think we should be obsessed with being better not in spite of God being at work, but because He is at work. We have an imperishable wreath we're pursuing!

In my mind, if I’m not getting better, I’m getting worse. If I’m not progressing, I’m regressing. There is no middle ground. There is a holy discontentment inside of me to constantly be improving.

There is a potential danger with this mindset. We can become so busy constantly obsessing over being better that we do not take the time to adequately celebrate and appreciate where we are and how far we’ve come. This danger is real. We must continually be thankful for what God has done in and through us.

Yet the bigger danger is standing still and settling for less than the future progress He still has for us. At every moment I must be performing at the maximum level of my capacity while at the same time be increasing my capacity for the moment that follows.