The Power of Releasing

Our experiences contribute immensely to our ability to trust or not to trust. When we have people that we can see and know well let us down, it adds to the difficulty of surrendering the control of our lives to the Lord, who we cannot see. Our negative experiences of failed trust, makes it difficult for us to relax in his presence. Our propensity is to go with our experience over the truth. The truth is, God is trustworthy. Whatever God is, he is completely. Since he is trustworthy, he is completely trustworthy. The more we are willing to surrender to his control, the happier and the freer we will be. Always remember this, God is already in control and he will always have the last say about everything. We do not give him control. We surrender to his control.

Sometimes what we see as a set-back is actually a set-up. In Exodus 14 we have a story of a Divine set-up. The children of Israel were trapped in a cul-de-sac. They were surrounded by the wilderness on both sides, the Red Sea was in front of them, and Pharaoh and his army of seasoned fighters were bearing down on them. There was no way for them to escape. This would be a literal dead-end for them unless God intervened. How did they get into this predicament? God led them there. It was a Divine set-up. If God does not provide a way out for them, they are toast. They are at the place where they have absolutely no control over what happens to them. When they realized they had no control over their situation, is when they found their way out. They gave up but they did not give in.

God speaks to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel to go forward” (Exodus 14:15 NKJV). Forward? They can’t go forward. The Red Sea is in front of them. If God can lead you in, he can certainly lead you out. The Lord said to Moses, “Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea” (Exodus 14:16 NKJV). The same path that God made to deliver his people, became the path of destruction for the enemy of his people. “When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses” (Exodus 14:31 NLT). The people of Israel had no doubt where their deliverance had come from.

Sometimes we may find ourselves in a dead-end situation. Our circumstances may have us hemmed in and we cannot see a way out. We have nowhere to turn, but to God. God can still make a way when there is no way. Even though we may not always be aware of it, we are here today because God has made a way for us time and time again. That alone should bring quietness to our souls.

If we cannot be satisfied with what we have received in life, surely, we can be thankful for what we have escaped from in life.