I had been praying for a while this morning and while in worship heard the words, “Gone with the Wind.”

 

It was a personal word in regard to a question I had regarding a work it might be time for me to lay down.

 

I kind of chuckled at the “Gone with the Wind” because I thought it was a little dramatic of an answer, but as I pondered it I thought, “Well that’s quite biblical, Shelly.”

 

Psa 147:18 – He sends out His word and melts them;

He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.

 

The wind blows things in and the wind blows things out. The wind of His Spirit blows where He wants, and He is entirely in charge of what stays and what goes in any given season.

 

Well, at least He should be.

 

I think we are often guilty of continuing a work that is officially “Gone with the wind.”

 

Can you hear me screaming over here like an echo from a high mountain, “Let it go?”

 

Whatever the breath of God is no longer on, trust me, you do not want it.

 

Yesterday, I released a word to “Let them go.”

 

Today it’s all about letting “it” go because frankly it’s already gone.

 

That endeavor, dream, or assignment that God has officially blown away. Why on earth do we continue in the dead things of the Spirit? I suspect it’s because we know not the difference between Spirit and flesh at times, or maybe we simply struggle in any kind of letting go.

 

Letting go is not failure, friends it is wisdom. Assignments start and end. Some of you all have been in a thing for so long that God has never been able to stretch you to become all He designed you to be. Where you are is comfortable, and so you’ve simply stayed in the comfort way too long.

 

Flesh can drum up what looks like success. So can the devil. So success in itself, or our human idea of what that looks like, can never be the measuring stick.

 

The heart is wicked and deceptive…who knows it.

 

Sometimes our heart sets itself on a thing, and it’s some kind of wrestling with God to untangle from it. The heart has a mind of its own and wants what it wants no matter the cost. It often fights against God and His plans.

 

This is why you have to be super careful about “following your heart…”

 

Following your heart is not always the same as following Jesus.

 

Is there some kind of toiling you’ve been involved in lately? A striving to keep a “thing” afloat? A self-martyrdom in essence because a works theology is what is driving you?

 

Friend, perhaps it’s gone with the wind.

Can you even now feel the lessening of the burden as your heart begins to know that what I’m saying is true?

 

If you need permission, Jesus is sending it now.

 

Sometimes, even though something is in the middle of a successful season, God might call us to let a thing go with the wind.

 

We see this in the scriptures, when at times the disciples were called to leave what looked like a great revival to go somewhere else.

 

This is why it’s so important to know how to hear the voice of God.

 

You and I must learn to take our orders from the Commander in Chief, Himself.

 

It’s a good day today to sit with Jesus and ask Him if there is anything that is “Gone with the wind.”

 

You might even start with a passion check. Sometimes loss of passion is a good indicator for a thing being gone with the wind. If you hold onto that thing without any passion for it you’re helping no one.

 

Once He shows you a thing, it’s best to release it, so He can get you to your next assignment. Otherwise, we might find ourselves in a place of “no profit.”

 

Ecc 2:11 – Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done

And on the labor in which I had toiled;

And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.

There was no profit under the sun.