I wonder, what are the things we’re counting as ‘gain’? What are we lifting high and holding tightly?
Loss can be defined as, “the state or feeling of grief when deprived of someone or something of value”. I wonder what my response would be to having to give up someone or something that I value? What’s my heart’s response to the grief that comes from having to loosen my grip on that which I’ve gained, that which I love? Am I continuously willing to surrender? Am I willing to sacrifice that which I hold in such high esteem and regard?
And if that ‘loss’ resulted in gaining Christ… would that be enough for me? Would it be enough for you?
I remember many tears of resignation and sorrow as I’ve felt the tearing apart and depth of my attachment to this world and the things in it. Yet inside of me, a louder, much sweeter voice beckoned me to come. Surrender. Trust. Release. It’s been a continuous call to release what holds me and binds me to this world that I might receive the “good” and “perfect” God has for me.
Each time there was pain and deep grief because in my spirit I knew I had to let go. No matter how hard I tried to bring “these” along for the journey, I could not. They could not come along.
Oh, but the depths of Christ’s love, who can comprehend it? The depths of His wisdom, who can ascertain? Each surrender came with a promise… “What I have for you is good. Trust Me.”
Each sacrifice came with a gentle… “Will you release what’s in your hands that you might receive what I intended for you?”
Time and time again, we’re asked to surrender.
Our ways for His.
Our plans for His.
Our life for His.
We loosen our grip on what we think we need, and we release. And He, well, He remains true to His word. He gives us more than we had, more than we expected, more than we could imagine or comprehend.
He gives Himself. All of Him. And we learn quickly that He is indeed better. He is worth it all!
But the process doesn’t stop there. It continues. When we think we know, when we think we’ve understood, we hear… “Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it,” (Matt. 10:39).
There’s a greater, far superior knowledge. There’s a more excellent understanding available to us. In it we find a deeper, more perfect, and enlarged knowledge of Christ. The loss makes way for a gain. There’s a more excellent knowledge available to us but it can only be revealed as we continue to let go.
As we look at what our hands hold onto, the things our heart wraps itself around…We must come to the conclusion that in light of Jesus Christ, all of it is rubbish, dung, worthless, and detestable.
Suffering the losses, receiving unto ourselves the infliction of the injury, sustaining the damage that comes from the loss will result in pain and grief. Philippians 3:7 kind of faith will require brokenness.
The disposition of our hearts must be, “I’ll take it. I’ll take it if it means that through this I will know You in ways I never have before. I’ll take it if it means that through this I will learn a more excellent way. And if gaining You can only be done through the suffering, then I pick up my cross and follow You anyway!”
The gain surpasses the false security and false sense of joy and peace that the ‘loss’ provided. Walking in– and truly ‘feeling’ the grief, sorrow, and disappointment– of our losses must be. It’s the backdrop by which God’s goodness and beauty can be witnessed, experienced, and fully appreciated.
Because those loses did not satisfy.
They never met the need Jesus meets.
We hold on tightly because we cannot imagine life apart from these. And yet, surrender is the very catalyst by which the eyes of our understanding are opened. On the other side of surrender we find we’re still breathing, our hearts continue to beat. Life moves forward, and we discover that Jesus not only fills that space, but He overflows. There’s abundance.
We recognize that suffering the loss, in order to gain Christ, is worth it. Always.
The effort, the trouble, the grief, the sorrow, the pain, the uncertainty, the expense, the sacrifice…
All of it, worth it!
He is most certainly enough!
The gain is far greater than the loss!
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