He is ever present with me; at all times He goes before me. I will not live in fear or abandon my calling because He stands at my right hand. (Psalm 16:8 VOICE)
Have you ever just looked things up and down only to discover the feelings those things bring from within you are kind of saying, "I wish I could just let all this go" and you really mean it? We hold onto way too much baggage, don't we? Stuff we don't really need to worry about because it isn't really our business to take care of whatever it is, but we take on the issue nonetheless. Things we get ourselves into because we weren't honest with others or ourselves about our desire to be involved. Monumental problems caused because we didn't take time to listen, or we just heard what we wanted to hear. You know what I am talking about - I know I don't find myself in these messes all by myself! To really be at the place we want to finally let go of these things is really a good place to be - for it means we know we are holding on way to tightly to stuff we have "no room" for in our lives!
I look at my closet from time to time only to realize I have some good clothes in there which haven't been worn in quite some time (I am talking years here, guys). Why do I hold onto these things? They either don't fit any longer, aren't part of my current style of dressing, or were things I received from someone that really fit my color pallet. I use the illustration for our clothes closet because most of us can associate with it. We cram way too much stuff in there, hold onto it way too long, and somehow think we will get back to determining the stuff is "useful" at some point in our lives. Oh, did I mention most of it doesn't even fit anymore? My philosophy is if I am no longer that bigger size, why keep it around to tempt me to let myself go again? If the smaller size is there to somehow motivate me to get to it, has it really worked? Not so well! Why not pair down to what is useful, serves a purpose, and is going to make sense for your present needs?
Now, let's think about some of the emotional baggage we cram into the small spaces of our lives where we really don't have much more room to cram anything else. Some of those emotions are just no longer "serviceable" in our lives - they need to go. Some of those memories need to be trashed because they are so stained by the past events they are just not anything we can make use of any longer. I have often thought about having a good friend just come over one day and help me sort through all the stuff in my closet. Why? She would be objective! She would tell me what looks good, really fits my style, and what still has potential. She'd encourage me to let go of the stuff I really don't need. Why are we so hesitant to open up the closet of our emotions to a good friend, or even to Jesus? God sends these friends into our lives so we don't have to sort all of life out alone. Why do we resist their loving care over our lives when God has placed them there to actually help us grow?
It is probably because we fear they won't see the "value" in whatever it is we are holding onto so tightly! Truth be told, we may be placing way too much "value" into whatever it is we are holding! We might just need to let it go to actually see it didn't serve a good purpose in our lives in the first place! God doesn't abandon us to our worry, or even our emotional baggage. He doesn't want us to have to sort it all out alone either - that is why he planned for us to live life in "community" - to share this task with another who may be a little more objective than we are ourselves. Truth be told, the wisest words from my closest friend may seem a little hard to hear at times, but I trust she says it in love. She sees in me something I don't see in myself - and that is invaluable! Live life to the fullest - don't fill your "closets" to the fullest! Let go - hold onto the good - and learn to value those God places in your life to help you not walk this thing out alone! Just sayin!
Have you ever just looked things up and down only to discover the feelings those things bring from within you are kind of saying, "I wish I could just let all this go" and you really mean it? We hold onto way too much baggage, don't we? Stuff we don't really need to worry about because it isn't really our business to take care of whatever it is, but we take on the issue nonetheless. Things we get ourselves into because we weren't honest with others or ourselves about our desire to be involved. Monumental problems caused because we didn't take time to listen, or we just heard what we wanted to hear. You know what I am talking about - I know I don't find myself in these messes all by myself! To really be at the place we want to finally let go of these things is really a good place to be - for it means we know we are holding on way to tightly to stuff we have "no room" for in our lives!
I look at my closet from time to time only to realize I have some good clothes in there which haven't been worn in quite some time (I am talking years here, guys). Why do I hold onto these things? They either don't fit any longer, aren't part of my current style of dressing, or were things I received from someone that really fit my color pallet. I use the illustration for our clothes closet because most of us can associate with it. We cram way too much stuff in there, hold onto it way too long, and somehow think we will get back to determining the stuff is "useful" at some point in our lives. Oh, did I mention most of it doesn't even fit anymore? My philosophy is if I am no longer that bigger size, why keep it around to tempt me to let myself go again? If the smaller size is there to somehow motivate me to get to it, has it really worked? Not so well! Why not pair down to what is useful, serves a purpose, and is going to make sense for your present needs?
Now, let's think about some of the emotional baggage we cram into the small spaces of our lives where we really don't have much more room to cram anything else. Some of those emotions are just no longer "serviceable" in our lives - they need to go. Some of those memories need to be trashed because they are so stained by the past events they are just not anything we can make use of any longer. I have often thought about having a good friend just come over one day and help me sort through all the stuff in my closet. Why? She would be objective! She would tell me what looks good, really fits my style, and what still has potential. She'd encourage me to let go of the stuff I really don't need. Why are we so hesitant to open up the closet of our emotions to a good friend, or even to Jesus? God sends these friends into our lives so we don't have to sort all of life out alone. Why do we resist their loving care over our lives when God has placed them there to actually help us grow?
It is probably because we fear they won't see the "value" in whatever it is we are holding onto so tightly! Truth be told, we may be placing way too much "value" into whatever it is we are holding! We might just need to let it go to actually see it didn't serve a good purpose in our lives in the first place! God doesn't abandon us to our worry, or even our emotional baggage. He doesn't want us to have to sort it all out alone either - that is why he planned for us to live life in "community" - to share this task with another who may be a little more objective than we are ourselves. Truth be told, the wisest words from my closest friend may seem a little hard to hear at times, but I trust she says it in love. She sees in me something I don't see in myself - and that is invaluable! Live life to the fullest - don't fill your "closets" to the fullest! Let go - hold onto the good - and learn to value those God places in your life to help you not walk this thing out alone! Just sayin!
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