God is always in complete control of the situations surrounding us, even when they are painful or frightening. He urges us to take refuge in His power. Even though chaos swirls around, our part is to submit to His will and trust Him.
As Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians, “Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might” (Ephesians 6:10), so should we be standing and be courageous because God is with us.
However, there are times in our lives when we are stubborn, and we fail to submit to God’s power. This is the moment when we should be reminded to “let go and let God.”
What does this mean? It means we should let go of our sense of entitlement, sense of doubt and acknowledge God by submitting to Him.
Letting Go of Our Sense of Entitlement
We adore our ambitions, hold them in high regard, and take pride in them. We believe that people should behave in a specific way and that life should go according to our plans. We expect God to honor our desires, but He frequently chooses better ones.
Having a sense of entitlement in everything that we do gives us an internal impression that we cannot let go and cannot let God but instead be entitled to be heard as humans. This idea disables us to feel that God is the only one in control and that we cannot do anything but let go.
Having entitlement issues puts as in contradiction to what Psalms 118:8 states that “it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.” Because we, as humans, can never be sure of our own wisdom.
Sometimes, we believe in ourselves too much. We think we can change the situation only because we have achieved so much or have solved so many problems. But the truth is, it is God who solves it for us by giving us the wisdom to discern. We are but His lowly servants.
So, what should we be doing instead? 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is true and just, and he will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We must confess to God for our sense of entitlement and submit to Him so that He may feel our humility.
Letting Go of Our Doubts
Aside from letting go of our sense of entitlement, we should also try to let go of our doubts. What are doubts? These are thoughts that cripple us to the extent wherein we question the existence of God.
Another kind of doubt is doubting God’s capacity to help us or to be in control of our lives. In James 1:6, this is reiterated, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
Staying in doubt is problematic because aside from the fact that it is false, doubting God’s capacity makes us believe in ourselves more than we believe in God. This brings us back to the sense of entitlement in the first part of this article.
Doubting God’s capacity emphasizes our sense of entitlement. This not only makes our relationship with God vile, but it also makes our faith vague. In Romans 14:23, it says, “But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
What do we do when we have doubts? We pray. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5–8).
Submitting to God
Letting go and letting God means submitting to God without remaining in doubt and having a sense of entitlement. If our hands are full, how can we receive what the Father wants to offer us? He teaches us how to replace pride with humility and tolerance. As it is reiterated in Proverbs 3:6, “Submit to him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.”
When we give our all to God and submit, our paths become straight, literally and figuratively. We see things with a broader sense of wisdom, and we discern better. This is the ultimate translation of letting go and letting God.
Additionally, submitting to God helps us resist evil as stated in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” This includes our evil thoughts and our desire to be full of ourselves.
Letting go of our self-praise and, instead, letting God be the center of praise helps us irradicate the notion that we handle our life. This is one of resisting temptation and resisting evil because the devil wants us to be selfish beings just like him.
If we put our all in God, God gives us the path that we need and the most ideal path we should take.
Surrendering to God
To let go and let God means acknowledging that we should not be entitled to our own selves, we should let go of lingering doubts and we should submit our entirety to God alone. When God is in control of our lives, our lives become whole.
Even if we encounter turmoil and obstacles, we still see hope because we know that God is in control and that He knows what is best for us. There is happiness in letting go and letting God and because of this, we should practice this in our daily lives as Christians. Let us encourage our brethren to do the same as we journey to this life.
For further reading:
Can a Christian Doubt God and Still Have Faith?
Is it True That if God Brings You to it, He Will Bring You Through It?
Is it Biblical ‘Where God Guides, He Provides’?
If We Acknowledge God, Will He Direct Our Paths?
Why Shouldn’t We Lean on Our Own Understanding?
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Glory Dy has been a content creator for more than 10 years. She lives in a quiet suburb with her family and four cats.
