Subscription Lists

Have you ever done the white knuckle test? If not, I encourage you to go for it. I was introduced to the “white knuckle test” while reading a book written by Corrie Ten Boom. Miss Ten Boom was a Dutch survivor of the Nazi Concentration Camps. Her family had hidden Jews during the German occupation of Holland. Because of this, the entire family had been captured and sent off to a concentration camp. Corrie was the only one to come out alive. Her faith and insight allowed her to minister to millions of people around the world until her death in 1983. She was a woman of great discernment with an unbelievable passion to live for Christ. In one of her books, she states that if we are holding on to anything so tight that it gives us white knuckles, we are holding on too tight. It’s like the little child grabbing hold of a toy with all their might and saying, “it’s mine”. She explained further, if we are holding on to things with an intense grip, we are keeping God from working his will out concerning these things in our lives. Because of this, we should periodically examine our hearts and minds and take inventory to check if there are any white knuckles in our presence that is causing God to be pushed out.

Maybe you have a strong clench on something as simple as your career. Or maybe it’s more complicated, like a relationship that you are holding on to so tightly because you think if you loosen your grip for even a second it will slip right through your fingers. Maybe it’s a dream that you have. A dream that you have visualized a million times over in your mind. All these things and much more are all good things. God wants us to have jobs, to be in relationships, and He definitely wants us to dream. In fact, He is the giver of all these wonderful things. But if we are clinching them with all our might, it doesn’t give God the freedom to work at these things and make them into what He desires for them to become. Your tight grip is communicating, it’s mine.

I remember back in 2002 when I asked God to reveal to me if there was anything in my life that I was holding on to with a tight grip causing me to have white knuckles. I soon became convicted of desperately trying to hold on to my then sixteen year old daughter. She was growing up fast and I knew the wet cement years were soon coming to an end. I did not want to accept the fact that one day she would no longer need me and would become an independent individual living her own life separate from her father and I. But God in His loving way reminded me, she was only mine to hold for a season, and in time I must loosen my grip and allow her to really grow up. Slowly I felt my hold on Elisa becoming less intense as each year went by. Four years later, by the end of her junior year in college, I felt in my heart that I was now holding my daughter with an extended hand. I had finally reached the point of understanding, that even though Elisa will always be my daughter, I must be willing to release her so that she can begin carrying out the divine purpose behind her creation. It was one of those “awe” moments in my life. We celebrated this divine revelation by going out to eat as a family at a fancy steakhouse in our town (we will use any excuse to go out to eat); where I shared with Elisa what God was showing me. Plus, I knew heaven was throwing a party because mom finally got it, so why not join them in their celebration. It was there at the restaurant I gave Elisa the new Mark Harris CD that had the song Find Your Wings on it. Mark Harris wrote this song with Tony Wood, and dedicated it to his own children, Matthew and Maddison. The lyrics to this song spelled out so beautifully what God was teaching me about, letting go.

I now look back at that time, and realize all of that took place in order to better prepare me for where I am at today. My only child now lives 12 hours away in South Carolina while her father and I still live in Ohio. As much as I love my daughter, and as much as I enjoy being around her and being a hands-on mom, my soul is flooded with peace knowing that she is where she is suppose to be, and her father and I are where we are suppose to be. Even before the birth of my daughter, God knew exactly where He wanted to take her. But He also knew the first thing He had to do, was to teach her Mom...to let go and let God.

Is He now preparing you for something? Are you feeling tight-fisted these days in some area of your life? If you are, I urge you to change the “it’s mine” thinking to “God, it’s yours”. I know it will be hard at first but after your grip is released, peace can be yours. For I know God will be right next to you helping you during this time as He was with me. And the neatest thing about it, He will not only be holding you up, but He will also be holding those things that are so precious to you. Let go and let God! You won’t be sorry.

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

Manifestations of the Spirit