The joy on the toddler’s face lit me up. Seeing him scattering a pile of fallen leaves awakened happy memories of my own childhood; remembrances of the annual magic of brightly coloured leaves carpeting a woodland floor.
It’s that time of year again. Autumn. For the trees, a necessary season of letting go, as they hunker down to rest through the winter and prepare themselves for the new growth that will stir in the spring.
We all need seasons of rest and renewal, and I am entering such a season. After an incredibly demanding few years, I am about to take a sabbatical. In a time of powerful prayer ministry at the British Christian Writers conference, the prophetic message was clear: ‘Lay it all down for a season. Stop, and rest in Me’. So I’m embarking on a season of hunkering down, and trusting God with all my ongoing projects; a time to let go and enter deep rest, ready for whatever new ministry may subsequently stir.
I don’t find it easy to lay down the various ministry projects I am engaged in, and it’s particularly challenging whilst my new book is still in its launch phase. But the call to do so for a while seems clear. Time to let go. And trust God.
‘Letting go’, when the time is right, is part of nature. We all need to do it, and not just through domestic decluttering.
Learning to let go is crucially important in the context of our inner healing. And we’re not always good at it. We have a tendency to cling onto all manner of hurts and feelings long after they have served their useful purpose, long after it would have been healthy to let go and move on.
Which is why there’s a whole chapter in Healing Life’s Wounds about the importance and healing potential of letting go.
Is there anything you might need to let go of? Might it be time for you to do so?
Meanwhile, I’m off to do my own letting go ... I might just kick up a few autumn leaves along the way.
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