Benevolent Detachment

John Eldrige has a book called Resilient which I have been enjoying lately, there is even an accompanying audio series related to the book through the Pause app. In conjunction with the book I have been praying with the Pause app because I find that it orients my heart to the proclivities of God. One of the phrases they consistently pray is, “Jesus, I give everyone any everything to you. I give everyone and everything to you, Lord.” This is a practice of living in complete surrender, something they call benevolent detachment.

Ah. What a prayer, and how true I wish it would stay for me – that the freedom experienced through complete surrender to Christ would not be fleeting. But this reminds me though, that constant prayer keeps me near to the cross and in fellowship with the Father. Nothing will bring me more of Jesus than just loving him. The practice of loving God actively heals our union with God which is constantly being broken down and decayed by sin in this fallen world. Prayer keeps us rooted in his love, tethered to his heart which overflows with affection toward us. The best part is that the more we love God, the more we get to experience him.

God wants us to practice benevolent detachment because its makes room for Him and the things he wants us to experience. If we believe he truly wants us to have something, then through surrendering it we honor God and learn whether or not he intended for us to hold on so dearly to that someone or something because they will come back (or not). I have experienced this in my personal life through relationships, businesses, and even having to surrender my own kids. I have come to the conclusion that nothing I have belongs to me, everything given to me is from God and on loan to me as a steward for a limited time. My responsibility is the same as the servants in Matthew 25:14-30, to steward whatever he gives me well for the time he assigns it to me.

Every wonderful thing in my life is a gift from God, an expression of his heart toward me. All of my precious memories, all of the things I love: the joy my children bring me, exercising, the secret place with Jesus, living a kingdom oriented life, and (at one point) the companionship of a bride.
THE calling the Lord has set for each of us is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. It is impossible to do that if we keep each of those areas burdened with things we were never meant to carry. This is why Jesus says to take his yoke upon us. His yoke is easy, his burden is light because his yoke and burden is love. Let God LOVE you, friend.

And this is pretty much what it boils down to – letting God love you. Without being filled with his love we will cannot love others the way we are meant to. Benevolent detachment puts us in the opportune position to receive God’s love and live life fulfilling his purposes without being anxious.

Let God love you, friend.

P.S. I want you to know that I write about the things the Lord is teaching me at the time he is teaching it to me, by no means am I doing any of this perfectly. I consistently fail in letting God love me and that hurts my marriage, my kids, my family, strangers, and pretty much everyone because I am not operating from his fullness. I want to do better, and I know that I am trending the right direction because the periods of intimacy I have with the Lord are becoming much longer as time goes on. It’s not about perfection, but making progress as we move forward through life. I hope this encourages you to make progress on your own journey.

Thanks for reading!