Summer 1993

Letting Go
Richard M. Riss

During his lifetime, Dwight L. Moody addressed more than 100 million people. Hundreds of thousands of people were brought to faith in Christ through his ministry.

There are several factors that contributed to his effectiveness. First, he was a man of unusual humility, and was often genuinely surprised when God accomplished great things through him. There was also a great deal of prayer under girding his ministry. For example, stationed in the front row at his meetings were committed Christians, praying that he would receive the power of the Spirit.

Another factor which greatly contributed to Moody's unusual effectiveness was his selfless resignation to God's purpose for every situation in his life. This was evident just before he became recognized as one of the world's leading evangelists. In June of 1873, at the invitation of friends who promised to finance the trip, Moody traveled to England with his new associate, Ira D. Sankey. Upon their arrival at Liverpool, they received the news that those who had pledged their support had died. Moody said, "God seems to have closed the doors. We will not open them ourselves. If He opens the door we will go in, otherwise, we will return to America."

Moody did not yield to personal ambitions, nor did he seek to "save face." He simply desired to do the right thing, whatever the personal cost. He was willing to give up his ministry, if God required it of him.

We also must be ready to surrender whatever God requires of us. He may require the things that are the most precious to us. This is because nothing must be more important to us than God Himself. If we cling to anything else, we become idolaters. Our loyalty to Him must not be divided. Ultimately, there can be no security in anything, or anyone else.

Because God loves us, He sometimes brings us to the point that we have no choice but to give up something that has a strong hold upon us. If we set our affections on temporal things, our disappointment will be certain. But if we set our affections on God and upon His purpose for us, whatever it may be, then we cannot be disappointed.

We find that as we seek wholeheartedly to please God, that all other matters of concern somehow take care of themselves. In fact, as we give up that which God requires of us, He may give it back to us, for we no longer cling to it as an idol of more value to us than God Himself.

This was true for Moody. He had the opportunity of a lifetime: a preaching tour of England. No sooner had he given this up than he opened a letter on his desk which turned out to be an invitation to preach elsewhere in England. It was this evangelistic tour, beginning in the summer of 1873, that catapulted the relatively unknown Moody to worldwide fame as an evangelist.

In order to attain his heart's desire, Moody had to give it up. He had to be willing to put into God's hands all that he hoped to accomplish. He had to be brought to the point where his very calling no longer mattered. It was enough simply to trust in God's sovereignty over all circumstances, and in His power to open doors for him, if He so chose.

The same principle is also evident, through different circumstances, in the life of John Calvin. For Calvin, nothing was more important than scholarship. At the age of twenty-six, he wrote the Institutes of the Christian Religion, one of the most important works of the Protestant Reformation. Soon after its completion in 1536, Calvin arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, en route to Strassburg, where he hoped to settle down to the quiet life of a scholar.

The Reformation faith had just become the official religion of Geneva by vote of the city council. When it was heard that Calvin had arrived, he was sought out to become Geneva's pastor. Calvin, who was timid by nature, shrank from this responsibility. He wanted to devote his life to studying and writing. When Calvin became adamant about his own plans, it was said to him, "May God curse your studies if now in her time of need you refuse to lend your aid to His Church."

Calvin was struck with terror by these words, which he took to be a directive from God. He cancelled his plans and consented to become pastor. He considered the will of God to be more important than his own desires, and he acted accordingly. This commitment to follow God's purpose bore tremendous fruit. Geneva, under Calvin's spiritual leadership became an example to all of Reformation Protestantism.

If we lose what is very precious to us, there is never a guarantee that God will restore it. But many of those who suffer great loss are able to come to terms with it remarkably well by God's grace.

H.G. Spafford, the author of the popular nineteenth-century hymn, "It is Well With My Soul," was such a person. He lost a personal fortune in the financial panic of 1873. Later the same year, his wife and four children were aboard the ill-fated French ocean liner, the Ville du Havre, when it collided with the Glasgow clipper Loch Earn and sank within twelve minutes. His wife survived the tragedy, but all four children were drowned. She sent him a telegram which stated simply, "Saved, but saved alone. What shall I do?" He immediately departed from Chicago and brought her home from Europe.

Within three years, Spafford penned a hymn commemorating these events. He wrote, "When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows, like sea-billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul." How was this family able to shoulder the burden of such heavy losses? God granted them grace, not only to endure, but also to be tranquil in the knowledge that His ways are higher than our ways, and that when we commit our lives to Him, all is well, whatever circumstances life may bring.

It is not easy to relinquish the things that are dearest to us. If we find that despite our very best intentions, we still value temporal things more highly than God Himself, we can be released from their hold upon us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, that power is available to each of us. As we seek God wholeheartedly in prayer, He will enable us to place our lives unreservedly into His hands.

May God grant each of us sufficient grace to pray accordingly.