Out of a desire to do great things for God, do you ever get a little jealous that some people get to do seemingly bigger and better things than you? Isn’t it funny how our servants heart can get a bit warped in serving and make it more about us than about God?

I’m going to be completely vulnerable here and honest about my twisted heart. I can be in it for the right reasons, then I attach my ego to it and I stay in it for the wrong reasons. If I started it, I want to finish it. If I planted it, I want to harvest it. If I had a part in the work, I want a part in the reward. And if it was mine, then I want it to stay mine. And what God has been showing me is my clinched fist on what he blessed me to be part of hinders the flow of what he wants to do next. And that leaves me to come to terms with what God does next might very well have absolutely nothing to do with me!

Am I the only person who gets attached to their role in a much bigger picture? Is it only me who can feel a little butt hurt when God takes what I have been part of and passes it on to the next person to continue? Nahhh, it’s you too, isn’t it?

What have you been holding on to that God has been asking you to let go of? Who have you been holding on to that God is trying to work on without you?

Will you hold on and hinder the growth, or will you let go so God can take this beyond your reach?

You played an active role for a season, but when the season changes, so does the work. Different work requires different people. Are you okay when God calls a different person to continue the work in a new season?

My husband and I adopted 2 little girls from an orphanage in Mexico. We brought them home with us when they were 4.5 and 6. I had absolutely nothing to do with planting them in this world. I didn’t birth them. I didn’t nurse them. I didn’t rock them to sleep. I didn’t teach them to walk or talk. That wasn’t my role. It wasn’t my season. God used me for something different. I took them to school. I tucked them in at night. I fixed their hair. I taught them to dance. I taught them to drive. I taught them to work. I taught them to trust, to pray, to love.

Now, our little girls are grown and God has shown me this is a new season. As our youngest struggles to find her way in the world and has been away from our family for many years now, I had a humbling conversation with God. He said to me, “Pamela, you won’t be the one who saves her.” But God, what do you mean? I’m her Mama. Why wouldn’t you use me to save her?

I held on so tightly in the beginning it caused more harm than it did growth. I not only wanted to be the one who would save her, I NEEDED to be the one who would save her. Looking back, I realize it became more about me than about her. My ego. My role. My broken heart. My need. Me.

The more I said, “Me, Lord”, the more the Lord said, “No, me.”

One of my spiritual mentors shared the lesson of 1 Corinthians 3: 5-9 with me.

“After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.”

When you understand your role in God’s work, you can release the work and know the result is not up to you. This means your worth is no longer tied to the outcome. Your value is not found in what you can produce or how you can perform. You’re a co-worker in God’s greater plans. You don’t get to control the growth, you get to play your role in a much bigger picture.

And here’s the truly beautiful thing about loosening your grip on the outcome: You can focus on your role in the process. All God is asking you to do is be available for the task he has called YOU to. Nothing more, nothing less. You will not finish this, that’s what Jesus does!

I will not finish this … Jesus will. Now, I can be grateful for the little role I get to play and I can rejoice over the continued work God does through other hands.

When he takes it out of your hands, you pray for the hands he will use next! And know this, he will use someone else next. You can get out of the way!

You are a servant. You have a servant assignment. Honey, just fulfill your assignment and loosen your grip. You get to play a role in what God is doing, but God is the one making it happen, not you. This really isn’t about you. This isn’t about how bad you are or how great you are. This is about a great big, powerful God who is doing a supernatural work, and he’s invited you to play a role in it for a season.

You are not the center of this process. That’s God’s position. You are not responsible for saving anyone or anything. You’re here to plant the seeds God has given you. You’re here to water some seeds you didn’t plant at all. You’re here to pick the weeds in fields you just stumbled into. But you’re not here to make it grow. God does the growing. God does the changing. Maybe you’ll get to witness it, and maybe you don’t, but that shouldn’t keep you from fulfilling your role in God’s work.

And here’s what I’ve come to learn about letting go of seeds you planted, or moving on from fields you watered … God is faithful to continue his work! God will do what only God can do. God will use other hands of available servants to continue the work you were blessed to be part of. You will receive your reward for the work he asked you to do, but you will only receive stress and overwhelm from the work you hold on to when he asked you to let it go.

Why do we hold on? Isn’t it our ego? Isn’t it our pride that says, NO, I want the reward for this work! Isn’t it our selfishness that says we want to be part of the next season too? All of this takes our focus off the work God has called us to do.

If we will focus on what God is asking us to do now , we will find peace like never before. If he’s brought it to you to work on, then girl, work! Do your part! Be available and give nothing but your best. When God takes it out of your hands and passes it to the next person, you will have peace knowing you did just as God asked you to do. And you won’t have to chase what God is moving on because God is bringing you to your next field for your next servant assignment.

God will reward you for the role you play. Play it well. Play it faithfully. Then open your hands and let God use other servants to continue the work. When you fulfill your role the best you can, you can have complete peace when the work outgrows you and flows to the next hands.

What is God saying to you now? Is he reminding you this really isn’t about you? Is he showing you how he has a specific role for you to play? Is he asking you to stop trying to do this all on your own? Is he revealing your ego that has been in the way? Is he asking you to open your hands and stop holding on so tightly? Is he whispering promises of a beautiful harvest if you will just water it? Is he preparing you for blessings you didn’t even plant? Is he asking you to plant blessings that will outlive you?

What an honor it is to be part of God’s work. He didn’t need a single one of us, yet he invites us to be part of these supernatural unfoldings as his power flows through us. His love moves us. His plans guide us. Philippians 2:13, “For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.” The energy you receive to get up and do your work today is God’s energy. God himself is working within you to fulfill your role in his good plans. The Passion Translation says it like this, “God will continually revitalize you, implanting within you the passion to do what pleases him.”

Yes, God will make you passionate about your role in his work. Whether you’re planting or watering or picking weeds, he will give you passion for your role. Stay in your role. Let others fill their roles. Your identity is not tied to this harvest. That is God’s work.

Only God can grow this. Only God can change them. Only God can make this so much more than it is. And he will … just play your part, do the work he has assigned you to, and keep your hands open.

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com