Release It!

You never really know how much weight you’re carrying until you get rid of it!

Sometimes we’ve been carrying something for so long that we no longer even realize we are carrying it. It takes so much more energy to hold on to a thing than it does to simply let go. Think about that. When you have a tight grip on something, it not only causes stress and strain on your hands, but your arms too, and may even cause tension in your neck and shoulders.

But for some reason, we keep holding onto people, toxic relationships, negative emotions and painful experiences even though they are literally killing us.

What burdens are you carrying? Maybe it’s a heavy heart, anger, bitterness, guilt, shame, jealousy, or offense. Whatever ‘it’ is, it’s weighing you down and God wants better for you. I recently realized I was holding something heavy in my heart. I didn’t like how it made me feel. Now I know that we all have annoyances in our lives, situations or people who get on our last nerves, but I knew this was something more than an annoyance or frustration…

I was offended. Not annoyed. Not frustrated. Not irritated. Offended. Sometimes we think we are too saved or too spiritually mature to be offended. Think again! I was completely beside myself at how I was being treated. And in the heat of those feelings, I had forgotten my ‘why’ and became hyper-focused on the lack of acknowledgement, lack of gratitude, and lack of support. Disillusion was trying its best to creep in. I even entertained thoughts of no longer going above and beyond because clearly, my effort and tremendous sacrifices had gone unnoticed.

I couldn’t casually talk about it because that would have made a bad situation worse. Not to mention the cruel judgement that would ensue, so, I did the only other thing I know to do which is pray. I knew God would know what to do with it. I had tried to smile through it, look over it, tell myself it was no big deal; but it wasn’t helping. I felt like I was under a huge heap of heavy rocks. There was no way I could escape on my own! And if I stayed under the load of the rocks my heart would never have survived.

So, I cried out for help from a very sincere place. I said, Lord, I don’t want to carry this offense in my heart anymore. Please take it away. And as quickly as I prayed, He answered. He’s awesome like that! Right in that moment, God showed me something I will never forget. It was as if I could see my hand tightly gripping a lot of strings with balloons attached. I didn’t want to lose any of the balloons, but as I told God I didn’t want to carry the offense anymore, I heard Him say, open your hand and RELEASE it! And without any hesitation, I opened my hand and the ballons began to float away effortlessly. After a while I couldn’t even see them anymore.

 And just like that, the offense was gone! God then asked me what my initial intentions were. I responded, to be a blessing and to bring You glory, to which He responded, you did that. Oh, the joy that filled my soul knowing that HE saw my efforts and HE honored my sacrifice!! That was everything to me. His acknowledgement superseded any earthly accolades I could ever receive!

May I encourage you to do the same? Whatever it is, open your heart, open your hand and release it! Carrying it no longer serves you and besides it’s too heavy. Use your energy and strength to push your vision and not to carry pain. Release people. Release situations. Release circumstances. Release unforgiveness. Release pride, Release bitterness. Release offense. Release hatred.

Now your hands and heart are free to receive all the precious benefits God has to offer. The chains are broken, and you are free to move about the cabin. You are free to continue being who God created you to be, with clean hands and a pure heart…