April 21, 2016

Let It Go

“Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.” -- Jeremiah 11:14

Do you believe God sends people into your path to give you a message you need to hear? I do.

Most of the time I hear God speak through the Bible, through devotionals and books that I read. I’ll hear Him as I pray or I’ll just “know” that He has told me to go a certain way or take a specific action.

The other day I ran in to someone I haven’t seen in several years. It wasn’t in a town I frequent. It wasn’t in a place I’d ever been before.

The conversation wasn’t what I expected. He brought up something he was going through and how he’d finally let it go. It’s in Jeremiah, he said. God told me not to pray for them anymore. Just let it go, he said.

I was shocked. Surprised. The words are right there. (And also in Jeremiah 14:11) God didn’t want Jeremiah to pray for them because they continued to sin. God is patient and loving and merciful but eventually He will dispense justice. We prefer to forget that sometimes.

I thought a lot about what he said. And I prayed about it. Again and again I prayed. He was right. There is a time to move on, to let it go, to stop praying about it.

I never thought I’d say that. Not ever. My faith is so deep. There is always hope. Always. But we cannot change the hearts of those who don’t see the evil in their actions. It is a matter between them and God. Their choice.

My heart bleeds because I know that eternity looms and they are lost. Do you know someone like that? Do you hurt for someone who is lost? Do you carry the pain of their actions in your heart?

I forgive anew each day. It is an ongoing process. Mostly these days I am just sad. It didn’t have to be this way but hatred born in childhood and not dealt with will inevitably lead to a path of destruction.

I think hope will always be deep inside of me that something will change in their hearts. I also know from experience it is a change that can only come from God. I have finally let it go.

What about you? Is there something or something you need to let go of?