Abandoned by man and not by God: Letting Go and Letting God

Letting go of past hurts and Letting God in with solace, forgiveness, and comfort.

Before I touch on Letting go and letting God, I would like to explore some signs of abandonment. According to Bothell Christian Counseling, Abandonment is a sense of disconnection from others leading to a feeling of rejection. The fallout from abandonment fears impairs trust, feelings of worthiness, and intimacy. 

Here is a list of signs of abandonment. Please note they are not only limited to these signs, however, we will explore just a few which are:

1. Extreme sense of sadness – this is someone who always anticipates sad realities in their lives.

2.  Insecure about themselves- they feel worthless and have low self-esteem. These people constantly think people are judging them.

3. Trust issues withdrawing from society.

4. Attachment behaviors – these individuals constantly hold on to someone or something ignoring the factors that may continue hurting them. Some people inflict pain on themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally through negative thoughts and physically hurting themselves. 

5. Signs of narcissistic behaviors coupled with excessive control in relationships.

If you have any of these signs, do a self-introspection and check if these are signs of suffering from traumatic ques of abandonment. 

The word of God has ways in which we can apply in dealing with abandonment issues, letting go, and letting God in our lives. These include:

1. Rebuilding your trust in God: Trials and tribulations make us lose sight of God. It makes us question his existence. We have a lot of whys in our vocabulary and even our prayers show a deep sign of grief and contempt, that is if we get the energy to pray. Some, haven’t gone before the Lord for quite some time because of the hurt, and pain they have in their hearts. As a way to deal with abandonment, rebuild your trust in God. Reaffirm God's ability to take care of your troubles. It is God's grace and mercy that makes us realign ourselves with his glories. It is opening up to God's power and trusting that he has our backs and he will never leave us nor forsake us. 

Deuteronomy 31:8 says: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be dismayed or discouraged.” 

2. Speak to the mountain: Mark 11:22-23, Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God, I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, may you be lifted and thrown into the sea and it will happen. But you must believe it will happen and have no doubts in your heart.” The word of God encourages us to speak to our situations and into our situations. Positive affirmations stimulate positive energies around us. We tend to attract good and positive things around us when we speak positively to ourselves and about ourselves. What we bind here on earth is a bond in heaven. The Bible says in Proverbs 18: 21, “The power of life and death is in the tongue and those who love it will reap the consequences.” This verse concurs with James 3:5-6 which says, “Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”   The devil uses our own words to make them realities. Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). Let us submit our words to God, our tongues, feelings, and emotions to God, and he will take care of them. Speaking to your mountain means we are not giving room for the problem to have power over us. The perfect will of God is to stand in confidence with the “I AM”. For he is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

3. Accept your past experiences and open your heart to forgiveness: We cannot change our past experiences but we can orchestrate positive things for our future. We shouldn’t allow our past to shape us. If so, the cycle will go on and on and even overlap with future generations, inheriting the past hurts. This will not only destroy us but also future generations. Make a conscious decision to break the cycle, by taking active steps to accepting your past and forgiving. Taking this step will help you to move on in life. Isaiah 43:18 says “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing!” Letting go allows God to do new things in you. Accepting our past gives room for us to be able to share our past experiences and change people's lives. Sometimes our attitudes and behaviors are shaped by our failure to let go or accept past hurts. Matthew 12:34 says “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” meaning we are what our hearts hold. If we harbor hurt, unforgiveness, and grudges, our mouths will prophesy. Ask God to “create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you” (Psalm 51:10). Our words are a reflection of our inner thoughts, so let us be able to open our hearts to forgiveness and acceptance of the past. Accepting the misfortunes that happened in the past also goes hand in glove with repentance. I know you must be wondering why repent when I am the one who was hurt. Well, according to the Lexham Bible Dictionary, Repentance refers to an event in which an individual attains a divinely provided new understanding of their behavior and feels compelled to change that behavior and begin a new relationship with God. Go before the Lord and repent the hurt you harbor in your heart. Ask for forgiveness for the grudges you hold, for the bad things you wish to those who hurt you before. Release your heart from the shackles of pain.

Prayer

Dear God

As we are going through the repairing of our hearts, transformation of minds, restoration of what was lost, and repairing of broken pieces, take over the healing process Lord. We surrender all wholeheartedly into your hands. You are the potter, you shaped us and molded us into being. You know our coming and our going. You know our thoughts before we even think them. You know our hearts and lives more than we know ourselves. So we let all things in your hands Lord and we release our pains unto the feet of your cross Lord. For you said in your words, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.

In Jesus Mighty name we pray. Amen