In my experience, I find it’s easier to recognise the bad habit that needs to go than recognise the seemingly good thing that’s keeping me stuck. If it’s not a bad thing why would I want to let it go? When I look back on my life, I think I can see how God orchestrated events to make me let go of things and therefore be available for something new. I wouldn’t have necessarily chosen to let go of some of the things because I was secure: why would I chose to let go of something I thought was good?

When God asked Abram to pack up his household to move to land he would show him, Abraham had to let go. When God called Moses to call on Pharaoh to set the Israelites free, Moses had to let go of the life he had made for himself. When Jesus called the disciples one by one to follow him, they each had to let go of something (or more likely many things). The disciples had to leave their jobs and their friends and their known way of life. It wasn’t that Abram’s or Moses’ or the disciples’ lives were bad, it’s just that God had a better place in mind. None of them knew what the new life would look like. Yet, they trusted. They went. They let go.

Whether it’s a job, a relationship, a Wednesday morning, a habit, a mindset, a club, or anything else, it’s doesn’t have to be something bad, it just may be that God has a better way for you to spend your time or money or energy. That new thing could be the thing to change your whole life for God’s glory.

We can ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern what we must let go and what we must hold. Paul wrote this to the believers in Corinth:

“However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ — the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 This text reminds us that God prepares things for those of us who love him and also we can hardly imagine what they might be, but, lovingly, God reveals them to us using his Spirit.

Spend some quiet time if you can acknowledging the majesty of our God who prepares things for us and reveals them when we ask. Ask him to lead you in discernment to let go of whatever is needed to have hands open to grasp onto the unimaginable next thing.