Drop

On By Beth AlisanIn Lessons

When your dog’s breed contains the word “retriever,” you anticipate that your pup will love a good game of fetch.  What I didn’t realize was how much my retriever would also enjoy carrying things around in her mouth.  On any given day you’ll find her carrying various shoes, socks, stuffed animals, rope toys, gloves, balls . . . Thus, “drop” became one of the first commands she learned.

The command “drop” never changes; however, the outcome varies.

“Drop” the ball so I can throw it again.
“Drop” the gloves so I can put them back where they belong.
“Drop” your stuffed duck so I can mend the hole and return it to you.
“Drop” the broken toy so I can discard it.
“Drop” the bumper so I can put it in my pack, and we can embark on the next leg of our hiking adventure.

Willingly, Adi drops.  She knows her obedience will be rewarded.

Little did I know how the command “drop” would help me understand the significance of two simple words spoken into my life by the woman sitting next to me in church one Sunday morning.  At the end of service, she turned to me and softly asked, “Do the words ‘let go’ mean anything to you?”  To my utter horror tears began to stream down my face.  I nodded my head as I wildly struggled to regain my composure.  We spoke briefly before she quietly prayed with me and left me with these words- “Let go! Trust Him!”   

For days after, I would take Adi and slip outside to chew on those words.  To seek the Lord’s understanding of all I was carrying that needed to be let go.  In the brilliance of the sunrises, in the gentle evening songs of the spring frogs, and in the stillness of starry night skies, the Lord began to show me that I needed to “drop” and:

Let go of the broken pieces of my life so He could fix them.
Let go of past disappointments so He could discard them for good.
Let go of a dream so He could carry it for a time.
Let go of the worry for a loved one and trust Him to work in his life.

With each “let go,” I knew I needed to be just like my Lab and trust the One who cared for me to do what was best with each thing I obediently dropped.

 And so I end with a question-

Is there something you’re carrying that the Lord is asking you to drop?

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven . . . a time to seek and a time to lose,  a time to keep and a time to throw away.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 6 

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him.” – Psalm 37:5

© 2019- 2023, Lessons from a Lab, Beth Alisan.  All Rights Reserved.

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