Letting Go To Know
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7-16 (New International Version, NIV) emphasis mine
Have you ever tried to do something with your hands when you already had something in your hands? I imagine it was difficult, or even impossible, to do anything when your hands were already full. When we try to use our hands when they have something in them, we don’t get much done, if anything at all.
There may be things we are holding onto that are preventing us from doing things for God. When He tells us to let go of certain things- like pride, hurt, anger, bitterness, confusion, and so on- we have to let them go and lay them down. This will allow us to pick up and use what God has for us. We have to let go of selfish ambition and achievement to take hold of God and His ability to get things done. We have to let go of worldly knowledge and wisdom of men in order to gain the limitless knowledge and wisdom that comes from God. Anything we are holding onto cannot compare to what God has for us to take up. It takes humility and trust to let go of our own stuff to receive what God wants to give us.
As we let go of what is in our hands, we can receive that which is in God’s hands. His hands contain love, healing, provision, guidance, ability, wisdom, strength, favor, patience, and grace. When our hands are free to handle what God gives us, we can work with God and not against God- and thus not against ourselves. Let’s keep our hands free so they are open to receive what God wants to give us, so we can do all the great things He has for us to do. As we do, we can press forward towards Christ to know Him better.
