It’s been 18 weeks and 3 days. Or breaking it down further, 129 days. 3,096 hours. 185,760 minutes. 11,145,600 seconds. That’s about 2,838,000 breathes, or 2,167,200 blinks, or 12,900,000 heart beats. Since my beloved passed. Although every step has been difficult, some things are worse than others. Letting go of personal belongings has been difficult, as it feels like a betrayal. Moving on from grief also is difficult because it appears that I am trying to cast out that very thing which I loved.

Listening to the pastor speak in church a couple of weeks ago about Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it… God’s arrow of the Spirit pierced my heart with something I needed to hear. I had a revelation in that moment: My husband was never ‘mine’. He belonged to God, and God alone. God placed us together on this earth to walk with one another, learn from each other, nurture one another, teach each other, and to secure the ‘two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done’ to help bring heaven to earth. We are stewards of one another, but ultimately, those we love are not ‘ours’.

Understanding this has made it much easier to begin to let go of belongings as well. These things that we use on earth, we are simply stewards. Everything we touch, wear, use, drive, enjoy…these things belong to God. Once we truly understand that, we can begin to sow those things of God’s into someone’s life who also needs them, will use them, can be blessed by them, and will be stewards of them.

Hanging on to people and belongings so tightly thinking they are ‘ours’ makes the letting go nearly impossible. It’s like playing “tug-of-war” with God, and we will never win. If we continue to believe in ‘ours’ and not ‘His’, His blessings cannot reach our lives, healing will never fully take place, and we wear ourselves out, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

Ecclesiastes 3 (KJV) clearly tells us that “There is a time to be born, and a time to die.” And “There is a time to keep, and a time to cast away.” Our seasons on earth are mixed with living and passing, planting and harvesting, weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing, casting and gathering, and so on. But regardless of the season, God is sovereign, and our attitude need always reflect The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.