There’s a tale from the East which illustrates how we find our life in surrender and letting go.

The story is that of a farmer who wants to catch a monkey.  In order to catch a monkey, the farmer will bore a small hole in the side of a hollowed out gourd.  Then, the farmer places a piece of fruit or some other desirable monkey edible inside the gourd.  The farmer secures the gourd to a tree.  And then waits until a monkey appears.

It’s just a matter of time until a monkey will come along, reaching his hand inside the gourd to get the fruit.  But as long as the monkey holds onto the fruit inside the gourd, he is in the trap of the farmer.  All the monkey needs to do to save his life is let go of the fruit, get his hand out of the gourd, and be free.

However, the inability to let go costs the monkey his life.

Find Life By Letting Go

As Jesus modeled and taught, life is best lived by letting go.  Surrendering.  “What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself?” Jesus asks (Matthew 16). Jesus can say this stuff because he lived it.  This idea of finding our life through losing it runs throughout scriptures.  We must descend to ascend.  Let go to find.

One of the very most foundational truths of following Jesus is that of surrender. We cannot truly be a Christ follower and live most alive in God’s purposes without first and foremost surrender.

What Do We Let Go Of?

• The need to have our way, to be first, to live life on our own terms.  In saying yes to Jesus we move aside from the control seat and allow Jesus to take the lead.
• The need to be right.  People hurt us, wrong us, misunderstand us. But part of living the surrendered life is the ability to let it all go. To not have to be right, or to set the record straight, or to stand up for ourselves.  In the end, truth wins out.  Letting go of unforgiveness and or bitterness is hard and even painful, but liberating.
• Control.  Needing to make sure everything turns out ok, and that life goes like we think it should is exhausting.  Control is mostly an illusion anyways.  We think we’re in control more than we really are.
• Our desires.  Yes, we have hopes and dreams and longings on our heart.  As God’s children, we can trust that those are good hopes, dreams, and longings.  But ultimately all of those need to be surrendered to God, given back to him, to allow him to make a way for us and lead us into those hopes and dreams.

This week I am rediscovering the value of spending some time on my knees as a physical act of what my heart knows I need.  I kneel because I forget.  I forget that it’s not about me and that life is best lived in a posture of surrender and letting go.  When I surrender, I feel the anxiety and inner turmoil loosen their hold and my inner being is filled with peace.

What I have personally experienced is that in letting go and surrendering to God, that’s when I find true freedom, peace and life at it’s very best. The abundant life we desire is accessible to us not by grasping, but by letting go. In letting go, we receive more than we ever lost.  As backward and upside down as it seems, it’s just true.

 “We find by losing.  We hold fast by letting go.  We become something new by ceasing to be something old.”  Frederick Buechner

“Get down on your knees before the Master, it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.”  James 4:10, The Message version