Letting Go and Holding Fast

There is something about October that invites us to slow down and pay attention. The days grow shorter, the mornings become cooler, and the trees begin their beautiful transformation. One by one, the leaves release their hold on the branches and drift to the ground. It’s one of the many special sights I love about living here in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

Perhaps there is a lesson for us in those falling leaves that we observe.

There are things in life we need to let go. Sometimes we carry regrets over things we cannot change, resentment over wounds we have received, or fears about what tomorrow may bring. At times, we even try to maintain control over circumstances that belong in God's hands. And there are wounds that we continue to carry long after God has invited us to place them before Him.

Letting go is not always easy. But faith means trusting that God can care for us even when we release what we have been holding so tightly.

Yet the Christian life is not simply about letting go. It is also about knowing onto what (whom!) we must to hold. That is precisely the focus of my Fall preaching series: holding on to Christ. Hold on to His Word when your feelings are uncertain. Hold on to prayer when you don't know what else to do. Hold on to hope when circumstances seem discouraging. Hold on to one another, remembering that we are members of the same body of Christ. Above all, hold on to the promises of God.

Hebrews reminds us to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful,” (Hebrews 10:23).

The autumn leaves remind us that letting go can be an act of trust. The enduring branches remind us of Him who is standing firm, who watches over us even when we feel like our world is falling out from underneath us.

As we enter this beautiful season, let us ask God for the grace to release what we need to surrender and the faith to believe and experience what can never change, Jesus Christ: His Word, His promises, and His unfailing love. When our faith is weak, we must remember above all that He will hold us fast.