Learning to let go

June 26, 2025

This blog is very personal, I won’t be sharing tips, but instead my own journey of how God is teaching me to let go of what I expected or hoped for, and instead have open hands for what he has planned for me.

I’ve always been a planner, and on one hand it can help you grow and push you to do new things. However on the other hand it can lead you to a place of disappointment, because when life doesn’t go as planned, it can be very frustrating and upsetting. The last two years has taught me a lot, as you can never plan for your health to deteriorate, especially when you’ve only just turned 30. I’ve been on a journey discovering what it means to live life with open hands. Yesterday I was chatting with my husband, and I shared with him how I’m sick and tired of feeling the need to always do everything, and always have a plan for everything. It’s like someone has slapped me round the face and I’ve realised that I don’t need to control every area of my life.

In Proverbs 3:5 it says ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding‘. This verse has challenged me so much, as I haven’t been trusting God the way I should, and I certainly have been relying on my own understanding for far too long. I’m still trying to get my head around what it looks like to live a life with hands open, ready to let God take away what isn’t good for me, and allowing him to place things in my hands which are good for me. Next week I’m sharing a blog I’ve written titled ‘5 ways to hear God’s voice’, and honestly this is what I’m trying to do on a regular basis. I’m trying to understand that in order to be directed by God, I firstly need to hear him. How can you trust in a God you don’t know? How can you lean on his understanding and not your own, if you don’t hear voice?.

Many of you who are regular readers will know that Andy and I are wanting to be parents. Our plans have been to wait until my operation, then to allow my body time to recover, and then start trying for a baby straight away. Following a conversation I had with my mum, and through time in prayer, I had a personal realisation. How is our future family going to be led by God, if we’re not even allowing the conception process to be led by God? I’m learning that in order to trust God with everything, it means sacrificing control of the things most important to me. Even in my marriage I find myself trying to fix an argument or disagreement, or sometimes even trying to change my husband, without going to God first and asking for his guidance. If we can’t let go of the big things, then how is God supposed to move in our lives?

Besides following the 5 ways to hear from God (which I’m sharing next week), the other things I’m trying to implement to help me let go are:

Remind myself that any good thing that has happened in the past, has been led and directed by God
Live my life with an open handed approach, to allow God to move in my life
Start by releasing control of the little things in my life, so I can gradually work up to releasing control of the big things
Communicate with trusted loved ones when I’m struggling with my life not working out as I’d planned
Reminding myself that my life is for God, not for myself and my own successes

I hope this blog has been helpful, I understand I’ve not shared any tips, and that primarily is because I’m still working through this myself. This blog is about sharing real life, and that’s why I wanted to share this, it’s not polished, it’s not a list of tips, but it’s from my heart.

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