Today is the last installment in our Men of March series.  I’ve been so honored to hear from 4 men that are making a difference for the kingdom.  Today’s post is from John R. Evans.  I’ve been honored to do ministry alongside John and his precious family during my days of preteen ministry.  John is FCA Director for the University of Central Florida.  He is one of those people who challenges me to live a life of radical faith.  He lives with Kingdom purpose and is a beautiful picture of a man after God’s heart.  He’s funny, loves his family and loves the University of Central Florida.  Enjoy today’s post from my friend, John R. Evans.

 

Let it go, let it go,
can’t hold it back anymore.
Let it go, let it go,
turn away and slam the door.

I don’t care,
what they’re going to say.
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway.

So in a moment of total transparency, I know what you just did right there.  You sang your guts out!  Ok, so maybe you didn’t sing out loud, but as you read those lyrics and you recognized the tune, you began to belt that anthem out from deep within you…from that place where your voice is powerful…and beautiful…and confident…and free.

That is precisely why “Let It Go” resonates with so many people…because we do have fears.  We do cower in those dark and cold moments where we preside over a kingdom of isolation, even if that isolation exists only in our own minds.

“What if people knew the real me?” you ask yourself.  “What if my thoughts and my dreams and my fears and my failures and all those other jumbled up mess within me were exposed… would those closest to me, would God, would anyone, still love me?”  

The answer, is yes.  But it’s not that easy.

Contrary to what the early lyrics of the song suggest, we DO care what “they’re” going to say.  In fact, we care so completely about what those voices might have to say, that it leaves us Frozen.

Don’t let them in, don’t let them see,
be the good girl you always have to be.
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know…

That’s what fear does, it freezes us.

[Tweet “That’s what fear does, it freezes us.–@johnrevans”]

It shrinks us into a weak-minded, over-analyzing, spiritually defeated, physically exhausted existence.  And fear will never willingly relent.

Listen closely dear vulnerable soul…death is not how the movie ends, defeat is not how the song ends, and desperation is not how your story has to end.

It’s time for you to turn the page!

I won’t begin to suggest in this forum that I know what your issues may be, but I have had the privilege of working with wounded people for two decades so I do understand the challenges this world brings upon us, the challenges we sometimes openly allow into our lives.

As you read this, you are likely wondering how, in the midst of your weighty circumstances, you could “turn the page” or how you could, in effect, Let It Go?

That’s a great question, which I most confidently answer from my own perspective.  As a 22-year-old college drop-out who had no concept of purpose in life and who was constantly attacked by internal voices of doubt, the way I turned the page was to place my trust fully in Christ and to employ scripture from Philippians as my life verse.

…forgetting what is behind and reaching toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize.     Philippians 3:13b-14

You see, where fear freezes us, faith frees us.

[Tweet “You see, where fear freezes us, faith frees us.”]

No matter your situation, no matter how dire your circumstances may seem, you still have a choice.  Your choice is to submit to fear and listen to the enemy who is the father of lies.  Or you can enlist faith and stand on the trusted voice that will never leave or forsake you.

Let your past remain in your past and walk on the promise that your failures no longer define you.  Leave your defeated thinking in the rear-view and move ever onward toward the fulfillment of your passions and your purpose.

It’s funny how some distance
makes everything seem small.
And the fears that once controlled me
can’t get to me at all.

To turn your back on the pains of yesterday and to walk in faith toward your tomorrow is to trust in the perfect nature of your Heavenly Father who intimately fashioned you as only a Master Craftsman could.  He shaped you wonderfully with a plan in mind.  A good plan.  A plan that brings hope, not harm.  A plan that says “No matter what bitter conditions this world brings against me, I will not live defeated, I will Let It Go and abide in a deeper strength.”

Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

Question: When have you let go and let God deal with your deepest pains and fears?  What did you experience?