06 June 2022

Aunty, can we really just “Let go and let God”?

6 June 2022 |

Dear Aunt Sevvy,

“Let go and let God.” I’ve heard this phrase frequently. People tout it as the answer to their prayers. It doesn’t work for me, no matter how I try to apply it to my life’s situations, nor can I find satisfactory examples in scripture. Is there, or is there not, something to it?

Signed, Lost but searching

Dear Lost,

When it comes to short maxims that people like to repeat, it’s important to distinguish between what we say for brevity, and what we mean.

When people say, “Let go and let God,” Aunty hopes they don’t mean, “Just sit on your bottom and do nothing, and God will take care of it.” Or “Wait around for a magical answer.”

What they mean (or should mean) is more nuanced: “Live your life with confidence, knowing that God loves you”—which is basically what Paul meant when he wrote, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Clearly “all things” don’t end well on this earth; some situations work out well, and some don’t, but in the end we all die. We depend on one of the key Christian beliefs that there’s more to life than this life, which means we look forward to a better life beyond this life.

Aunty knows that even some believers wonder how much God interacts with us on specific matters in the here and now—that is, how much God answers specific prayers. Some think it happens often, some not at all.

But the Bible seems pretty clear that the message that God is on your side in the long run is a solid biblical one. How much more you expect beyond that is quite personal.

Aunt Sevvy

You can write to Aunt Sevvy at DearAuntSevvy@gmail.com. Please keep questions or comments short. What you send us at this address won’t necessarily be, but could be, published—without identification of the writer. Aunt Sevvy writes her own column, and her opinions are not necessarily those of Adventist Today’s editors.