Letting Go and Letting God

A simple thought for today can be summed up in the notion of waiting upon God. In Isaiah 40:31 we read, “But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint. Betsy Childs Howard, writes in  “Seasons of Waiting: Walking by Faith When Dreams Are Delayed”

“Waiting exposes our idols and throws a wrench into our coping mechanisms. It brings us to the end of what we can control and forces us to cry out to God. God doesn't waste our waiting. He uses it to conform us to the image of his Son.”

Such waiting is beautifully captured in Macirna Weiderkehr’s poem, The Sacrament of Waiting

Slowly

She celebrated the sacrament of letting go.

First she surrendered her green,

Then the orange, yellow and red

Finally she let go her brown.

Shedding her last leaf

She stood empty and silent, stripped bare,

Leaning against the winter sky

She began her vigil of trust.
Shedding her last leaf
She watched its journey to the ground.

She stood in silence
Wearing the colour of emptiness
Her branches wondering;
How do you give shade with so much gone?

And then
The sacrament of waiting began

The sunrise and sunset watched in tenderness.

Clothing her with silhouettes

That kept her hope alive.

They helped her understand that

Her vulnerability

Her dependence and need,

Her emptiness,

Her readiness to receive

Were giving her a new beauty.

Every morning and every evening they stood in silence

And celebrated together

The sacrament of waiting.