“Letting Go” – Those words evoke various mental images depending on what stage of life you are in. As a young mother the first image that came to my mind was someday in the “far off future” I would have to let go as my child moved out of the home when they grew up. What I learned along the way was that there are MANY times we must “let go” as mothers. These situations affect each of us differently, depending on many variables. Some of the situations that require letting go may include:
* leaving a child with a baby sitter for the first time
* leaving a child over night for the first time
* leaving a child at childcare
* leaving a child in the nursery at church
* leaving a sick child in the hospital
* the first day of school
* the first day a teen DRIVES a car alone (my personal hardest)
* leaving for the military
* leaving for college
* leaving to get married

Each of these situations requires us as parents to let go of our control of our children’s lives. We are no longer with them seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. How do we handle these situations?

Trust

It is not trust in our children. They after all are children, no matter how well we parented, how bright and smart they are, or how much they have shown us we can count on them. They will make mistakes. Didn’t we?

It isn’t trust in the world we live in. It is all too clear around us that we live in a fallen world. Not only do those we love make mistakes, there are individuals that intend harm.

Our trust must be in God.

We must remind ourselves that God loves our children even more that we do. He is faithful to work His purposes in the lives of our children and to use their mistakes as well as ours to accomplish His will in their lives.

There are several examples in Scripture of God requiring mothers to trust as they “let go” of their children.

Hannah had to leave Samuel in the care of Eli, who did not have great credentials when it came to parenting. (see I Samuel 2:22-25) Yet God used Eli to speak to Samuel who later became a mighty prophet for God.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, faced this very real issue of letting go. One situation is recounted in Luke 2:48-49. Jesus had stayed behind in Jerusalem, without letting his parents know. When they finally found him three days later, Mary was understandably upset.

48 His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”

49 “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?”

It is not easy to trust, yet when we learn to trust as we let go, God proves Himself faithful. God knows what lies ahead in the lives of our children. Let’s make sure that we let go and let God.