Just Thinking: Let It Go
October 30, 2012By V. Knowles

The above was the title of the book published in February by the renowned Pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes. It is not my intent to explain or expound on anything he said but simply to use those words to highlight a debilitating human flaw: namely, the inability to hurriedly forgive, quickly forget and rapidly move on.


The aforementioned is a negative attitude that can stunt your growth and stifle your progress. For staying too long in the same place mentally or physically will cause you to become stuck and keep you away from your destiny. It can also lead to physical or spiritual death. If you are a Christian, each day you must remind yourself, "All things work together for good to them that love God and who are the called,according to his purpose." I want you to remain in that frame of mind as I continue with this column and you read the words of Ron Hubbard, a Republican Arkansas state representative. This is the same state that is considering erecting another tribute to David O'Dowd, a Confederate teenager who chose to be hung rather than betray his companions in arms. You may also want to research information on the Little Rock Nine, the black students who needed armed guards to attend an all-white high school in the state.


Hubbard wrote in his 2009 self-published book, Letters To The Editor: Confessions Of A Frustrated Conservative that "the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise." He also wrote that African Americans were better off than they would have been had they not been captured and shipped to the United States.


In the midst of an election year, condemnation, even by members of his own party, was swift and vocal. The chorus of boos were loud and came from every corner.


At first blush, the initial reaction is to recoil in anger and disgust. However, a closer examination of those words under the lens of scripture would reveal some thought-provoking truths.


Every person who has done business with God has passed through suffering and pain, endured harsh words and even harsher treatment which served to mold their noble character.


Indeed, it turned out to be a such a blessing in disguise that someone, upon retrospect, declared, "It was good for me that I had been afflicted."


Let it go.


The speaker may have intended for the words to hurt, degrade or humiliate the hearers. They may have emanated from an ill-intentioned heart. But what he or she may have intended for evil, God meant it for your good.


Let it go.


Anyone who seeks to make you uncomfortable receives pleasure from seeing you squirm. If there is no reaction, there is no joy. Develop a poker faced mentality in the furnace of affliction. Do not let them see you sweat.


Let it go.


The world, the flesh and the devil will be relentless. They will assault you mercilessly. Their aim is to turn you into a chaff before the wind, tossed and twisted by the slightest breeze of criticism or insult. You must not react to every act.


Let it go.


Satan is always seeking to control and manipulate the buttons of your life.


You must show and convince the devil that your capacity to endure suffering is greater than his power to inflict it. Wear him out and persuade him to give up.


Let it go.


Ironically, those whose natural bent is an impulse to cause evil, pain or suffering are troubled souls in need of deliverance. They are cowards whose true characters are revealed when the tables are turned, the spotlight shines on them or they are embroiled in the fiery cauldron of life. It is a truism that hurt people hurt people. Since his or her life is an unhappy existence, the only satisfaction or joy he or she can derive from this world is to deny it to another. Misery loves company.


Let it go.


Every once in a while when you find yourself in the valley of despair, remember again the lives of Joseph, Daniel and Mordecai of the Bible.


The pitiful person(Joseph) in the pit today will one day become a prince in the not too distant tomorrow.


The lions' den they schemed to put him in(Daniel), they were confident would take him out. Instead, it became the place of their own destruction.

The gallows constructed by Haman for Mordecai became the site of his own execution.


Let it go.


Finally, if you are at the end of your rope and you cannot last another day, allow your mind to flow back to the sight of your Savior on a cross.


Snatched from the hands of a reluctant Roman governor, with cries of "crucify him" and "let his blood be upon us and our children," He submitted himself to the mockery and derision of his own creation. He, who could have destroyed them all with a wave of his hand or a blink of his eye, pleaded, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Further, it is written about him. "Who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame?"


If you ever hope to become all that He intended you to be, if your goal and destiny is the promised land, Learn a lesson from the children of Israel.


Forget the past. Forgive the injury. Rise up look towards your future.




V. Knowles is a husband and father with an interest in penning issues that serve to uplift mankind. He melds his love for Classic literature, The Bible and pop culture - as sordid as it may be - into highly relatable columns of truth, faith and justice. Hence the name: Just Thinking. If he's not buried in a book or penning his next column, you may find him pinned to his sectional watching a good old Country and Western flick.








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