let go to let in: the power of His provision
Embracing deep surrender is a process of letting go to let in. Three years ago, God gave me a word to spread my wings and try a new thing by starting a business. In becoming a yoga teacher, God revealed that this business would be a very unique and alternative wellness company. Not long after, He asked reclaiming abundance to begin to offer home organization along with our other service offerings. And every step of the way, it seemed like something had to be removed in order to make space for something new + greater. Surrender is an act of faith that keeps hope as its centerpiece. Faith is assurance of what is hoped for and yet unseen in the current reality.
This service offering honestly baffled me. It was like, “God, you’re telling me to do this and how does it fit?” In getting the operations + logistics set, it was like, “God, how is this going to work?” The beauty of following in faithful obedience is that the questions matter less than the willingness to follow, to ask questions, and seek deeper understanding while fully trusting that He’s got you.
I see and understand it very clearly now. When you are organized, you are focused, diligent to the qualities and details that shape character, grateful for what is in front of you and generous in spirit. When you are stressed, you are more likely to be messy, scattered, and impulsive. Home to Sanctuary offers our clients services to declutter, reorganize, and repurpose areas of the home (work!) into a place of comfort of peace. Making space in your home gives you room to breathe and be. In the process of doing this in the physical space, you are inevitably building a new muscle to do the same in your heart, in your relationships, and in how you move.
In Matthew 6:25-33, Jesus proclaims:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?...And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you -- you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'...But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
A part of the Sermon on the Mount, "Do Not Worry" is a parable of Jesus that encourages us to set our sights on the treasures of Heaven and to lean on the Father as our provider (jireh). It's meant to ease anxiety surrounding all things material. To call on Jehovah Jireh is to understand that it’s more than the material. Yes, God understands and knows what you want, desire, and long for. He knows your background, your story, your finances. Even greater still though is that He knows what you need. He’s not concerned with what you have – he’s concerned about who you are. It’s about aligning the thoughts, words, and actions to become more like Jesus.
I can’t tell you how many times I would pray for some sort of physical nourishment and then walk into a situation and be immediately blessed with a generous and random circumstantial miracle. And yet, the greater blessing has always been in the refining of who I was becoming and who I have yet to become. With our clients, I have witnessed this process also transcend beyond the Home to Sanctuary process. There’s something about making space in the home allowing for greater liberation through a renewed mental and emotional capacity. Rather than focusing on sustenance and attire, Jesus encourages us to keep our focus on the body of Christ.
To thrive in God’s kingdom is an embrace of non-possessive intimacy and healthy attachments. This freedom allows for an expansive and fresh lifestyle. Expansion allows you to develop the competencies you may need to develop into who you are becoming and requires an ability to embrace the power of having faith and surrendering to what is out of your control.
And! In Matthew 6:21, Jesus tells us,
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Monitoring your attachments shifts your relationship with control. With more gripping, there is more resistance and clenching onto what we so deeply want to hold with tenderness. With more release, there is more lightness and abundance and what we seek begins to flow easily and effortlessly our way.
When you clench and hold tightly to whatever may be in your clasp, you are more likely to become unfulfilled, bored and drained by monotony. This creates a fog that distracts you away from ever-present opportunities. When you hold what you love with clenched fists, your expectations become mired with pressure and high expectations. In surrender, you release and let go and the response you are met with is an opportunity to be blessed and touched in unexpected ways.
Your attachments form from your beliefs (those that are learned through experience, practiced + reinforced over time, and inherited from your ancestors + loved ones), your expectations + the preferred outcomes you have for your life, and your past experiences. The relationships you have with these attachments can fall under a whole spectrum of lightness + ease to hoarding + gripping. This shows up in the spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and social dimensions of your wellness through your relationships, your belongings, cleanliness + hygiene, feelings, and thoughts. Your attachments have the possibility to also foster great intimacy and a sense of worthiness + contentment for what you have and where you are.
When you begin to practice surrendering your will to His, you are essentially detaching from all that you know to attach + align with the heart of Christ. When you let go to let in, you are examining your relationships with what is consuming your time, energy, and attention. Getting into a routine process of doing this allows you to periodically let go of what is no longer serving you in order to make space for what you are hoping, believing, and praying for.
Here are five ways to let go to let in:
Ground yourself in identity. If you loved yourself with God’s eyes, what would He believe for you, expect of you, and want for you? Who has He called you to be?
Release. Reassess your relationship with control. By the grace of God, you have the power to do anything and this also requires an acceptance of the fact that you cannot do everything all on your own. Your experience is not everyone’s and moving intentionally with this belief at the core is an act of humility. Letting go of control sheds an unrealistic expectation of instant + constant satisfaction and gratification. Additionally, releasing your desire to own + hold snaps you into focus with the present so that you can fully appreciate what is shared with others and present in the moment.
Renew. Revitalizing an enhanced ease with vulnerability enables you to increase resiliency and strength. By increasing your comfort with courageous vulnerability, you uncover stronger bonds formed from a place of trust. When you grow in comfort for getting honest + raw, you begin to live in aligned authenticity and also encourage others to do the same.
Reclaim. After releasing what is holding you back or weighing you down and renewing your time, energy, and attention, you can begin to reclaim your essence and vitality. Reclaiming is hope in practice: an act of embracing change as a powerful opportunity for letting in space for growth. Remaining hopeful is to show up with faithfulness in knowing there is freedom that comes with His kingdom. God encourages us to die to ourselves and let go of our own tendencies to manage + control in ways only He should be able to.
Connect deeply. What is the calling God has over your life? Connecting with your purpose cements your sense of worthiness. Getting clear on the deep stuff provides a sense of focus for what truly matters. The clarity also yields more spontaneous moments of blissful generosity, service to support those around you, and encourages forgiveness from a place of compassion. When you give + share, you bless another purely for the sake of spreading joy.
Taking on this process on a regular basis has many benefits that may include developing and/or enhancing deepened faith, a healthy relationship with the unknown, greater comfort with discomfort, a spirit of unity, and mental ease + relaxation. When you deeply surrender, you are able to shed the excess to get closer to the heart and pulse of Jesus Christ.
If you’re ready to let go to let in, you can schedule a 1:1 complimentary consultation here.
Kim Yamasaki is a Christian wellness coach who supports her clients in cultivating space + stillness in the mind, body, and Spirit through collaborative processes of co-creation. She provides services that create space _ stillness for deeper connection: spiritual wellness coaching for burnout, home organizing, and yoga. Her methods are affirming, grounding, and nurturing – all interlaced with playful creativity. She is a native Angeleno with Japanese and Chinese roots.
This article was originally published for the “selah space” newsletter, reclaiming abundance’s care package for go-getters that is released on a monthly basis. “Selah space” offers content to support readers looking to for greater balance by living, loving, and learning deeply to be their most calm, confident, and complete selves. In the Bible, selah means “to pause or to reflect.” It appears most heavily in the Book of Psalms and Habakkuk as musical notations at the end of verses to draw attention back to what was previously expressed.