A few weeks ago, my wife and I had a garage sale; nothing special about that, right? Well, it was advertised as  “Getting Ready to Move Sale—Everything Must Go!!” …which was an accurate declaration since we have plans to move to North Carolina in the spring.

Part of the process was to go through thirty-five years of accumulated “stuff” and decide what must go to “lighten the load” so we wouldn’t be as burdened packing our other “treasures”. No problem…or so I thought.  As our lives lay prostrate across folding tables in our garage, I started to develop Irritable Growl Syndrome, snarling at our patrons as they rummaged through our “precious moments” with no more concern than if it was well….junk!  They just didn’t understand that the dusty pair of ice skates they were holding up with tattered strings hanging like overcooked spaghetti was actually a form of freedom for me thirty years ago.  How did they know the abandoned ice bucket was actually one of my wife’s last tangible memories of Christmases past with her family; the ice bucket was only used for that annual gathering.

“GET A GRIP”! We needed a new perspective, a reminder of why we were actually doing this, to see the bigger picture.  For in letting go of material things that had lost their value or purpose, we were in a better position to embrace the new adventures God has in store for us.  For you see, we have our first grandchild arriving in February.  And only God knows what else He has in store for my wife and me.

Hebrews 12:1 NIV states “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” which tells me it is okay to let go of whatever it is that gets in the way of my running the best race EVER!  In your life the letting go may not be junk; it may be bitterness or resentment toward a friend or loved one.  It may also be something that seems pretty innocent like taking a class or getting involved in a club or organization.  Whatever “IT” is, we all need to find and cultivate the art of letting go if “IT’ gets in the way of blocking us from what God would have us do.

By the end of our garage sale, my wife and I were literally giving away the remainder of our “treasures” as the more left our premises, the lighter and more animated we felt. The less “overhead” we have to consider, the more time we have to concentrate on running toward that finish line.  Now for letting go of that extra forty pounds…