Holding too tightly.
The common theme between every single person woven into the story of the Bible is that no one did that. They may have had ordinary jobs, they may have dropped everything in a second to follow Jesus or it may have taken a while, but the only thing that holds to be true is that, in the Bible, following Jesus was not synonymous with clinging to your life. Actually, those two roads should never diverge at all. No one clung, we are told not to cling, no one held on, we are told to trust, no one was fearful of letting go, we fear like it's going out of style.
Whether that be of jobs or your ideal plan in life, whether that be of the future or of the present, whether that be in relationships or friendships... they didn't cling to any of that.
Why do I find that I so often cling on? And when I ask questions around, seek others hearts, pursue answers and perspective from others, I find that everyone around me is just clinging on too.
Relationships that last longer then they should, that may even lead to the alter, because someone is fearful of letting go of something because it screws up their life plan, it may hurt someone, it may make them look bad. Friendships that people try and sustain forever, even when it is producing no fruit, dragging down life instead of building them up. Even when something should end, people try and make it work just because they are fearful. Jobs that people stay in because it had a good wage, it's comfortable and pleases those around them, even though it's not where their heart is at, those people stick around because they just can't let go of their tight grip. People cling onto their list of qualities in a spouse so tightly that even when a guy that's perfect for them comes along, they are too busy thinking of some unobtainable list instead of whats real.
We are too busy clinging on, trying to make a life for ourselves, instead of letting God make a life for us. We are too busy filling our hands with stuff, gripping our hands to fleeting, invisible things, that we never have them available to what God has.
Our hands are clung to something else. Our hearts are fearful, discontent, lacking trust in every way. And we wonder why often, freedom is the hardest thing to grasp.
Freedom is resting in the peace of mind that when you need to follow God and let go, you can do it. When you need to follow God and drop a job, you can do it. When God says no, you can trust that He is really just saying yes to something far greater (sounds cliche, but it's true, I promise.) When a friendship ends, you are given room to invest in others that you mutually need in that season.
The minute my life is enveloped in fear of change and letting go, fear of displeasing someone because I am following God, fear of this or that... is the minute I lose the ability to have freedom in Christ.
Christ set an example for us that we can be content not having worldly things, we can be content in following God's yes' and no's. We can be content with HIM. Knowing that He's got us.
Freedom is right on the other side of clinging on with the tightest grip to anything and everything we fear losing or changing or giving up. Freedom is right around that corner.
