In my first blog post, I reflected on my very first “Dear God,” letter where I shared about realizing that I needed to pursue being whole in God. Upon the start of this journey one of the first things that God tasked me with was being able to LET GO. The ability to release on this Christian journey is necessary in a relationship with God. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) references that in this life we will go through different seasons and I believe that through each season you will have to LET GO in order to gain. Whether it’s something material, a person/people, a spirit, or distractions, the act of releasing is necessary. We as people make the process harder to LET GO when we do not obey God and try to go about this process on our own. Letting go is releasing your control which is HUGE! Why? Cause if you want to allow God to have complete, 100%, total control over your life, I have news for you, you must LET GO! Hence the quote, “LET GO and Let God.”
Back in 2014-2015 I was going through a transition; God was revealing some relationships that needed to come to an end with some family, friends, and an ex (what I would call a “situationship”). Before 2014 I started acquiring friends who had the same commonalities as me. We went to church, but at the same time we were ready to turn up and get lit, as the young folks say, Lol! I know, a hot mess right? However, clearly at this time I knew who God was and had accepted Him in my life, but my focus was not on having a committed relationship with God, so I was trying to “have my cake and eat it too”. To add fuel to this fire, I started dating someone. He’s a great person, but he had a lot going on personally and was trying to figure out what he wanted to do next with his life. In hindsight, it was definitely an unstable situation, even though I couldn’t see it at the time, because I found myself constantly pouring out and ended up empty. I like bringing everyone together, so I started bringing my new friends and the guy I was dating, around my family and close friends. As we all started hanging around each other, I started to notice that certain people did not mesh well. Division started happening and I ended up finding myself in a lot of compromising situations. I constantly felt like I was trying to make temporary people fit into a permanent place in my life and God was not having it.
“I constantly felt
like I was trying
to make
temporary people
fit into a
permanent place
in my life and God
was not having it.”
– Diamond Melvin
Anyone that has a close relationship with me knows that I have always struggled with conflict or confronting people. I usually suppress how I’m feeling or vent to someone close to me about it and then never address it with the person I have the conflict with because I don’t want to ruin the relationship that we have; therefore I end up suffering in silence. I feel like these relationships were the “big test” for me because of my lack of willingness to be confrontational. I remember finding out that my ex and one of my “new friends” were together one night and they started exchanging secrets with each other (things I had told them separately about the other, in confidence, in an attempt to vent). You can only imagine what chaos and damage this created. Needless to say, relationships came to an end. However, even though those relationships had ended, someone who I was close with still maintained a close relationship with my ex, so it was very difficult to move on because he was constantly around or we were attending the same events because we had mutual friends. Soon enough this started putting a strain on that relationship and it started going downhill from there. But, THANK GOD for having a way of warning you about when it’s time to LET GO. He does that through the Holy Spirit. The great thing about having a relationship with God is that you gain the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit warns you of spiritual and physical dangers and will lead and guide you in the right direction; God does nothing without warning (John 16:13).
Prior to the relationships ending, the Holy Spirit was warning me to LET GO. My grandmother used to constantly tell me, “Diamond, real friends don’t put you in compromising situations.” She used to tell me that almost every day because I would come home with a day full of drama for her. Then my best friend noticed the enemy was using people to try to tear us apart and she warned me about it. I even had someone that I’m not even close with call me and tell me that there was a “snake in my camp (what some may call a ‘snitch’)”. The Holy Spirit was warning me all that time, but I just could not LET GO. However, in order to get to my next level in my relationship with God, I needed to let these things go and because I wasn’t responding to His warnings, God allowed these things to happen to get me to LET GO. It was not an easy process at all. There were many days that I still tried to make things work, tried to seek revenge for myself (“hurt people, hurt people”), and just wanted to stay stuck in my unforgiveness; but I learned that my freedom in God was way more important than the things that were trying to hold me captive.
Some important lessons that I learned in the process of LETTING GO:
1. Acknowledge God First – I noticed in my own life how imperative it is to ask God to take control over your day before it begins. If we are striving to be whole in God and to give Him complete control over our lives, we must acknowledge Him at the start of our day. Ask Him to lead and guide you throughout your day, throughout your thought process, your conversations, etc. (Proverbs 3:6). This allows you to prepare to view your day and anything that may be thrown at you, in the way that God wants you to, giving you the right perspective and attitude.
2. Be Okay with NOT Being Okay – Healing is rough! It’s okay to not have a good day. Throughout the healing process, there will be times where you feel defeated because you may be presented with triggers along the way and you may think that you should be further along in the process, but those triggers will start to expose the work that is left to be done in you. It’s important to know that even when you feel defeated in those moments, God is still with you. He understands your frustration, your hurt, your confusion, and even in your weakest moments, He will give you strength, comfort, and peace (2 Corinthians 12:9).
3. Do Not TRY to do This Alone – Contrary to what some people may believe, you cannot do life alone. It’s so important to this healing journey to surround yourself with like-minded people, who will encourage you, uplift you, keep you accountable, and remind you of who and Whose you are (1 Peter 3:8).
4. FREEDOM IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BONDAGE – I know that bondage can become comfortable, familiar, or even provide a false sense of stability. I know that freedom can seem far off or even impossible, but that’s a lie that the enemy tells us to keep us there when in reality freedom is so accessible. I want you to know that more than you want to be free, God wants you free. I want you to know that on the other side of freedom there is peace, hope, joy, a sound mind, forgiveness, endless possibilities that you couldn’t even imagine! Hold on to God’s promise of freedom, LET GO and BE FREE (Galatians 5:1).
Letting Go is a process that you will encounter throughout your entire life. I believe that each trial and test that God allows to happen in your life is a faith builder. Of course there have been more things that I needed to LET GO after that season in my life and there will be more things to come. However, I stand on the faith that keeps being built brick by brick as God proves Himself over and over to me. He allows me to face each moment when I need to LET GO and doesn’t just leave me there. He graces me with the strength to get through the process and He keeps me through it. I always come out greater after I LET GO rather than holding on to the things that no longer serve me any purpose. When you find yourself wavering in this process just remember the promises of God (Deuteronomy 31:6 and Jeremiah 29:11), these are just a few of my go-to’s. Know that when you LET GO, God is always going to do a new thing (Isaiah 43:18-19), so take some time and reflect. Is there anything in your life that is a distraction from strengthening your relationship with Christ? Are you trying to force things to work in any relationship? Has God already sent warning signs and you’re just not listening? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, I encourage you to LET GO, LET GOD, and walk into your NEW THING!
Love Your Sis,
"Dear God," Blog 
“This is good. I can relate. Thank you for sharing this!”
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