Mike Edmisten Follower of Jesus. Husband of Nicki. Father of Ryan & Brock. Communicator of the Word.

Let It Go

My family has been shafted…I mean, ROYALLY SHAFTED…by a mechanic.

(For the record, he's not a local guy. He is based in a town in Kentucky which I will not name. And I will not list his name or the name of his shop in this post. Disparaging someone by name on a blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. is unacceptable, and it's not going to happen here.)

We paid this dude a TON of money to fix our car. Long story short, our car is not fixed. He did not do what he said he would do. He lied through his teeth to us. And then when I called him to protest, he yelled at me and then hung up on me.

So what am I going to do? I'm going to let it go. (I did report him to the BBB in hopes that they can resolve the issue, but I'm not holding my breath.) This has drug on for almost 7 weeks now. It has derailed my focus. It has caused a sick feeling in my stomach. It has made me so angry that I could barely see straight.

In other words, all of the negative effects happened TO ME.

I was spitting mad at this mechanic, but it didn't affect him. It affected me.

I completely lost focus at work and at home, but that didn't matter to him. It mattered to me.

The worry and anxiety of the situation meant nothing to him. It meant everything to me.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

There is a reason that I'm letting it go. It's not because he is right and I am wrong. Not at all. I am 100% in the right. He is 100% in the wrong.

It's not because we can afford to lose this much money. Trust me. We can't.

It's not because I'm such a wonderful, forgiving super-pastor. Believe me, I had several interesting thoughts about this guy…most of which would have allowed me to start a prison ministry from the inside!

I'm letting it go because my anger hurts me. Holding a grudge hurts me. Unforgiveness hurts me.

These things keep me imprisoned. They don't allow me to move forward. They keep me stuck in a pattern of negativity that never gets better. It only gets worse.

So I'm letting it go. If God works a miracle and we get some resolution of these issues, then I will be very grateful. But I'm not doing anything else about it. I'm letting it go.

I'll let you connect the dots in your own life. Maybe your issue isn't with a mechanic who robbed you blind.

Maybe it's with a friend.

A co-worker.

Someone in your family.

Someone in your church.

This much I can tell you. If you don't let it go…it will never let you go.

Decide today to be free.

Let it go.