Letting Go

Yesterdays post reminded me of a story I've heard:

There once was a young family that visited an apple orchard. In the family was a little girl who had never seen an apple orchard before. When she saw the rows and rows of apple trees, she squealed with delight and ran ahead. As she cam upon the trees, she spotted an apple laying on the ground. Picking it up, with small hands, she smiled at the red treasure she'd found. She ran with delight back to her father. But her father looked with alarm seeing that the fruit had come from the ground, rotting with all the rest that had fallen. But unnoticed by his young daughter, she proudly held the apple high for her father to see. He bent low to look, and with a weathered smile, he told her of its rottenness and asked if He could have it. Not wanting to let it go, she lowered her small arms and gazed at her bruised little, apple that she so desperately treasured. And after several long moments of pondering, she slowly let the apple go and handed it back to her father. And, in her empty hands he placed a new apple, a perfect apple.

I hold onto the silliest things in life. With a tight grip, I hold onto things that I find comfort in. I'm quick to be satisfied with unknowingly rotten thins, I settle, I trust in things that will rust, and I hold onto them so tight, not even wanting to pry my fingers open to let my Father see, let alone hand them over. This father loved his daughter and knew the big picture. He knew the apple she carried wasn't the best she could have and that it wasn't good. But before he gave her a better one, she had to give up the rotten fruit first. She had to trust her loving father. The Lord wants the same for us =D But we have to be willing to let go.