Releasing People

“On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.” Acts 27:19

The Lord told me to write two letters, probably ten years apart, to someone who had wounded me deeply many years ago. That person and I had both been wounded deeply by someone else years prior to that. The first letter was simply to say that the Lord had revealed to me he had also been wounded, that I forgave him for his actions towards me, and that I still loved him. The second letter was to ask him to meet and finally talk about what had happened so that we could both move on and let God heal us. I was clear that I was going to continue to move on regardless of whether or not he would, but I wanted to give him the opportunity to take that journey with me.

I never got a reply to either letter, and I never really expected one. It didn’t matter—it was the act of my being obedient to God to write the letters that mattered.

During a Bible Study on Acts, I asked for vague prayer about this situation and prayed that the Lord would soften his heart so He could heal him and also that he would come to salvation. Right after that the Lord started to reveal a marvelous thing to me through Acts 27:19. “On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.”

The following Sunday during worship I just all of a sudden lifted my hands and said, “I release him to You, Lord,” and it was the most incredible thing. It was like the tackle and supplies on the ship that carried Paul to Rome that had to be thrown overboard before the ship sank, but it was their choice…not the other way around. The cargo wasn’t holding onto the crew, but rather the crew was holding onto the cargo—and sinking—until they threw it overboard.

I’m not held captive by the people and things of my past. I’m the one holding on, and through Christ, I have the ability to let go. I don’t need the other person’s permission, admission, or apology to move on. The power of the situation is mine to keep or give up. That person or event doesn’t have a grip on me; when I choose to let it go and release it to God, then we are both set free! The other person is free for God to work more in his life, and I am free from the chains that have bound me to that person. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).

Dear Lord, I realize that this is a very painful area for many of us that have been deeply wounded in some way by someone. This healing is an ongoing journey that may take many years. I pray that You would give us the ability to release our grip on those who have hurt us. Amen.