"Let" Him? (Where would this "let" button be?)

[hollowgram]

BlessEwe, in another thread you mentioned being in a dark hole at one time abusing drugs and other things, and that God pulled you out but first you had to "let Him".

Struggling to understand exactly what does "let" mean in this context. People often use this type of phrase and it has always been puzzling, to say the least. We don't control what other people do, let alone what God does, so what do people mean by "let" God do this or that. Maybe you can explain what it means to you, how exactly you started "letting" Him, what you did before by contrast that added up to NOT "letting" Him and what changed.


For reference, your post appears here in the recovery section under thread #t7355135, post #2. (don't have enough posts yet to post links, sorry).

 

[matilda1991]

Yes, I would like to hear how you did it too.

 

[hollowgram]

See usually when people talk about how you have to "let" God do this or that, it generally signifies a covert attempt at blame. We don't actually "let" God do anything -- God being sovereign and all powerful will do as He pleases. We can ask for help and healing but that does not mean he will give it to us on our timetable (or at all -- look at Paul with the thorn in his side, he asks three times to have it removed and God says, basically, No, just rely on My strength instead.)

It seems pretty cruel to tell someone who has prayed for understanding, help, healing, empowerment to "get past" themselves or their "issues" or problems, strength to fight plain old temptation let alone something huge like drug addiction, etc. that the reason they don't have the happy carefree life they seek has been their fault for "not letting" God fix them. Now, since BlessEwe said she DID "let" God, it would be very interesting to hear from a positive point of view what that concept meant to her.

 

[BlessEwe]

http://www.christianforums.com/t7355135/


Ex 4:14 Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.

Life App Bible translation:
God finally agreed to let Aaron speak for Moses. Moses feelings of inadequacy were so strong that he could not even trust God's ability to help him, Moses had to deal with this deep sense of inadequacy many times. When we face difficult or frightening situations, we must be willing to let God help us.

If you would like more I am pleased to show you.

It seems pretty cruel to tell someone who has prayed for understanding, help, healing, empowerment to "get past" themselves or their "issues" or problems, strength to fight plain old temptation let alone something huge like drug addiction, etc. that the reason they don't have the happy carefree life they seek has been their fault for "not letting" God fix them. Now, since BlessEwe said she DID "let" God, it would be very interesting to hear from a positive point of view what that concept meant to her.

First off, I don't see anything I said that implied such a horrible thing for especially for someone in recovery I am in recovery myself from something huge like drug addiction, abuse, and childhood trauma.. and would be floored if someone told me that.

2nd, I was referring to myself and what helped me in my personal recovery, isn't that what we are here for. From our own personal pain.

I think the best way to deal with something like this in the future is to ask in love and prayer
as you did in your 1st post, I would be happy to reply, I will not respond if it is done in any other type of way, as it is not a behavior I wish to contribute to.

God Bless

><>

 

[Chaplain David]

See usually when people talk about how you have to "let" God do this or that, it generally signifies a covert attempt at blame.

Nonsense! It does nothing of the kind. It speaks to getting out of one's own way and thereby opening the door for the will of God to enter our being and be made manifest in our lives and others. God always has our best intentions at heart. But if we block them or fight him or move in the opposite direction from what he wants for us, we will not realize the good God wants us to have. God made man with free will to accept or reject him. It is only when we accept Him and begin discarding our own earthly will that we begin to know peace and the blessings He has in store for His children. Dealing with abuse, addiction, disease and many other things is difficult, sometimes seemingly impossible. But if we approach God with the attitude of "Lord, please relieve me of the bondage of self that I may better do thy will" then we start to recover.

We don't actually "let" God do anything -- God being sovereign and all powerful will do as He pleases. We can ask for help and healing but that does not mean he will give it to us on our timetable (or at all -- look at Paul with the thorn in his side, he asks three times to have it removed and God says, basically, No, just rely on My strength instead.)

In terms of recovery we absolutely have to constantly and consistently turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. When we do this we are letting go of our will and accepting his for us. We must relinquish our own earthly problems and power for the supernatural power and solutions God provides. True peace is ONLY found in acceptance of God's will for us which also usually means there are some things we need to do on our end to put His will into practice. This could mean seeing a counselor, going to a 12 step program, becoming more vigorous in our spiritual lives (prayer, church, worship, bible study). The Lord's prayer is a prayer of letting Go and letting God (thy kingdom come, thy will be done) and relying on Him for our needs rather than our own judgement or direction. This is not a passive approach. We cannot just rely on God and not do something. If that were the case we would be like the lame man at the pool who lay at the top and never received the healing waters. When Jesus asked Him if He wanted to get better the lame man replied that there was no one to take him to the pool. That was the man relying on what he thought he needed. Jesus was showing Him that he didn't need the pool, he needed faith and trust in God and he would be healed. When the man said he wanted to be healed Jesus healed him and was an example for many to see.

It seems pretty cruel to tell someone who has prayed for understanding, help, healing, empowerment to "get past" themselves or their "issues" or problems, strength to fight plain old temptation let alone something huge like drug addiction, etc. that the reason they don't have the happy carefree life they seek has been their fault for "not letting" God fix them. Now, since BlessEwe said she DID "let" God, it would be very interesting to hear from a positive point of view what that concept meant to her.

You don't know what you're talking about here. If you knew the person being replied to or the person making the above statement you would definitely think otherwise and hopefully be making apologies. Because of my own personal history with abuse and substance abuse, not to mention some other things, I know that languishing in them or their repercussions did nothing but make me sicker. It made me hurt more, blame more, some it brings to the brink of and even the act of suicide.

We must get out of the pit we have found ourselves in, sometimes the one we have put ourselves in and reach out to God and keep reaching out to God no matter what. It is usually baby steps at first or one step forward and two steps back. But opening ourselves to God's help and remaining open and doing things that support both of these things is the only solution. God is faithful and always provides what we need. His will is infinitely better than our own and embracing Him rather than just staying in the wreckage of the past will work miracles in our lives.

 

[BlessEwe]

YouTube - Let Go and Let God

 

[pennsyginny]

thank you

 

[Chaplain David]

Excellent YouTube On "Let Go and Let God." Thank you for sharing that.

God bless.

 

[hollowgram]

BlessEwe -- sorry for the miscommunication there. Did not mean to imply ANYTHING about YOU with the second post, just clarifying the reason for asking at all. Those would be MY issues, friend, not your fault or your problem. Wrote that to help make clear part of why some (not the only one here for sure) might have trouble with that kind of language -- that may have been the only context in which we've ever heard it.

It had not been meant in any way to criticize you, sorry if you read it that way. Thank you for responding.

 

[hollowgram]

forget it -- just not worth it.

 

[hollowgram]

Ex 4:14 Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.

Life App Bible translation:
God finally agreed to let Aaron speak for Moses. Moses feelings of inadequacy were so strong that he could not even trust God's ability to help him, Moses had to deal with this deep sense of inadequacy many times. When we face difficult or frightening situations, we must be willing to let God help us.

If you would like more I am pleased to show you.

Thank you. This just "re-asks the same question" -- what does "willing to let God help us" look like. What do you do inside yourself or in practical ways that either causes yourself to become "willing" in this way or else "signals" you have done so or failing that, you at least desire to do so.

Sorry, seriously fuzzy on the whole "let" thing here. Don't mean to be offensive to you or anyone else, just honestly don't get it. In this mind it would be similar to taking a situation where someone else, without asking your permission, comes up, shoots you in the guts, and steals your wallet -- and then someone else asks you, "so why did you LET them do that to you?" -- you'd be all like, "um 'SCUSE ME??" Or no, a better example would be you go to your kid he's playing video games, you ask him to wash the car this afternoon. He says sure, but he doesn't know where to find the hose, bucket, sponges, soap, etc. So YOU go out and YOU set out the hose, hook it up, get the bucket and sponges all ready, bring out the chrome polish, rags, etc. and then go call him again and ask him to get busy. Later that night at supper you ask him why the car didn't get washed and he says "well I wanted to but you wouldn't LET me."

So what's left -- wash it yourself and then give him the credit for a job well done? In that case you didn't need to ask him, did you. Guess it comes down to just trying to figure out if any real substance exists in these catchphrases or if they all just contain euphemisms for "bootstrapping" it.

Again, this would be MY wrestling with it, not a reflection on you or your experience. MY problem understanding it, NOT an attempt to undermine or attack your experience. Please try to understand that and not get offended. Thanks.

 

[BlessEwe]

BlessEwe -- sorry for the miscommunication there. Did not mean to imply ANYTHING about YOU with the second post, just clarifying the reason for asking at all. Those would be MY issues, friend, not your fault or your problem. Wrote that to help make clear part of why some (not the only one here for sure) might have trouble with that kind of language -- that may have been the only context in which we've ever heard it.

It had not been meant in any way to criticize you, sorry if you read it that way. Thank you for responding.

If in anyway I ever come off the wrong way please call me on it as I do not know it all, or as a human I make mistakes. So Thank you for this.
As for the last post you made, give me some time to pray and really think about it because before I explain to you how God got me to that place for me to surrender. I want to give you clear answers ok...

 

[BlessEwe]

For me personally I went on for along time addicted and abusing drugs. I went to church, my boys were/are in a christian school, I went to bible studies, went to christian counselors. And I too cried to God to heal me, take it away from me.
Yet I was so far out there I put my addiction before anything, and in time it physically consumed my day and whole life. In the end I had to have it or I was going into withdrawals.
I saw this disease kill my father ( by a drunk driver), and my mother through abuse from years of men and alcohol who killed her ( I grew up watching that), all before I was 19 years old. Later it killed my sister and several good friends. I often wondered why God healed some and others died from it.

Looking back at my last day using and the time coming up to that date I can really see myself under the thumb of the enemy and he wasn't going to stop until I was dead. I was in a parking lot and the drugs I was on, got me to the point of almost killing myself, even though I no way am suicidal.

In another blackout I called 911, and I know it was God reaching into the pit I was in, and pulled me out. Cops, firemen, and a ambulance came to my home ( with all of my neighbors watching). I was so sick I just let it happen, I finally got to the end of myself and let God take over
In the ER room doors began to open, like the doctor on call was a in recovery, he just happened to be there. People in the hospital like the chaplain came in to talk several times during my 3 day hospital stay,and for the first time some how it all clicked and light bulbs went off.
I can't tell you why God did this!

After my 30 day program I came home and laid in fetal position in my bed scared to death. I could cry now

God gently taught me to lean 100&#37; on Him and 0 on me.
I am learning to do that now in my life, and is a daily struggle but in order to stay sober it is the only way I can. As well as the many tools I learned in AA and finding the serenity of letting things go to God that I can not control.

In my recovery God laid in front of me to go back to school, ha I said at age 50, and a family. Well He keep putting it out so I did and I am now in the process of getting my state board license in addiction recovery.I am going up in June. I am not sure where He is taking me with this, but I am just following Him.

 

[Chaplain David]

Thank you for sharing Blessewe. It is always inspiring to hear how the Lord literally pulls people up from the depths they find themselves in then on top of that, helps them if only we let go and let Him do that. God can do anything!

 

[hollowgram]

BlessEwe thanks for sharing the story of your journey here. And thanks for being open. It sounds like you equate the moment of "letting God" with letting go of yourself and giving yourself permission to be known to others as "sick" (in trouble, in need of help, whatever) and permission to fall apart and let other people qualified to do so try to put you back together, rather than pretending you could hold it all together and keep going. Would that be accurate or did we get it wrong again? Sorry if wrong again, just really having a hard time getting a handle on this and really want to.

 

[BlessEwe]

Thank you Sacradote,

Hollowgram: Exactly Most importantly I got to the point of brokenness, to the end of myself allowing God to intervene
As you said I did continue to feel I could stop myself up until the last few days. ( major denial, and I feel denial is the enemies way of keeping us down). I was ready to do what it takes to stop, allowing God to be in the drivers seat.
Looking back, now that I am clear in the mind, I was a very sick person. All of the classic alcoholic/drug addict end of stage behavior.

 

[hollowgram]

You mean ... you mean ...

... it's actually OK to say you can't stop? that you're out of control?

and not just OK but ... you're SUPPOSED TO???

sorry, you have just blown one head here to smithereens. did i read that right?

 

[hollowgram]

see, every time i've tried to "go there", people tell me i'm just making excuses. they don't listen, and they don't believe me, so i have to go back to just pretending i've got it all together, all under control, and i like being where i am. all lies, of course. all lies.

 

[BlessEwe]

Well the 1st step of AA ( Alcoholics Anonymous) is

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Many of us get to this point in several ways, but we all got there.
And there is no point in talking to others who do not understand addiction, if you feel you have a problem it is good to talk to someone who has been through it, or has been educated in this field.

see, every time i've tried to "go there", people tell me i'm just making excuses. they don't listen, and they don't believe me, so i have to go back to just pretending i've got it all together, all under control, and i like being where i am. all lies, of course. all lies.

Go to a AA meeting, many there would never tell you that. they understand and can direct you to help.

 

[One day at a time]

This has all been very interesting conversation. BlessEwe--wow! I'm so glad that now you are going to help people that you can truly understand. That will be a blessing to many.
Don't know if I have any right to say anything b/c I am not in the exact same spot....but...
I see it like this. We all have a free will, God allows that and He allows our mistakes. I have hung on to different things like pride, cynicism, bitterness, and etc.... I would say that people would probably say "No way, not you!" But I was in chapel one day at school (when I was a teacher) and the pastor speaking was talking about "Casting all your cares upon Him..." He used the illustration of casting a net. Now we can cast the net and hang on to it but is it going to go and do what it needs to do if we still have our hand on it? No... But he said casting was to fling it away and LET go--hands free-- we are to get out of the way. To me that is what letting go means. I need to get out of the way, throw (or hand) my things (whatever they are) over to God and keep my hands off of them. Is this a one time process--no....we have to do it over and over and over again...b/c we think we know better and can do a better job than God.
So....don't know if that is of any help or even if it makes any sense.....but I do know it is never as easy as it sounds.