Tag Archives: Isaiah 43:18-19

Let it go

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 Someone said, “you will find that it is necessary to let things go, simply for the reason that they are heavy.”

 
“Let It Go,” from the hit cartoon movie Frozen: you either love it or hate it (because you’ve heard it so many times)! Regardless of how you feel about the song, the title carries a powerful message for life.
 

Have you ever carried a burden a very long time? So long that it has weighed on your ability to cope and get on with life? Some burdens we have to bear – and ask others to help carry our load. But some burdens can be set down at our choosing. It might be a hurt caused by someone else. Or it could be a hurt you caused yourself. It might be a grudge you’ve kept against someone…or against God. It might be a concern that has weighed you down but you’re afraid that confronting someone will make matters worse. There is a time for biblical confrontation and with a biblical motive of love. God wants us to be reconcilers and peacemakers. But there are other times when it is best to simply, “let it go.” Write it on a piece of paper, burn it and resolve to move on. Get over it. Why?

 

Carrying grudges or the burden of bad memories about someone is like a cancer that eats away at your soul; it creates bitterness, wrath and anger and impedes the path to healthier relationships.  (See Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger be put away from you.”)

Constantly focusing on past hurts robs us of seeing new life right now. Dwelling on past hurts creates a wilderness barrier that keeps us from seeing  a clear path out. (See Isaiah 43:18-19, “Remember not the former things. I am doing a new thing. I will make a way in the wilderness.”)

Letting past hurts control us keeps us from enjoying the good future God has planned for us. You can’t set off on a new journey with one foot in the boat and the other on the dock. Holding back keeps us from God’s intended best for us. (See Philippians 3: 12-14, ” I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”)

 

Ask God about the burdens you’re carrying today. Is it a relationship He wants you to try to reconcile? Or is it something you need to let go so you can move on?  Maybe it is time to put that heavy burden down and rest.

 

“Come to me all of you who are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus, in Matthew 11:28

 

 

 

The end of one adventure is the beginning of the next

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“Please, Aslan,” said Lucy. “Before we go, will you tell us when we can come back to Narnia again? Please. And oh, do, do, do make it soon.”
“Dearest,” said Aslan very gently, “you and your brother will never come back to Narnia.”
“Oh, Aslan!!” said Edmund and Lucy both together in despairing voices.
“You are too old, children,” said Aslan, “and you must begin to come close to your own world now.”
From The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, CS Lewis

It was a sad moment for Lucy and Edmond, realizing that their great adventure had come to an end. But the great Aslan reminds them of an important lesson we would do well to also learn:

The end of one adventure is often the beginning of another.

For me, there was the end of a good career and good health and the beginning of the battle against cancer. While not the adventure I had sought, it has not been without certain revelations I may have missed elsewhere. Then there was the end of the cancer (for now at least) almost a year ago and the beginning of a new life with new stem cells and all the blessings and trials that come with that. There is for each of us the end of the adventure of life as we know it and the greatest adventure of life after death!

For now, there is the end of this past year and the anticipation of the new one upon us. It is a time to consider wise words:
“There is a time for everything…a time to mourn, a time to stop mourning…a time to fight and a time to stop fighting.” (Ecclesiastes) Always, it is time to accept and fully embrace the life transitions given to us. It is a time, as Paul puts it, to forget what is past and to press on to what is ahead. (Philippians 3)

Imagine a new year being decidedly content and fully satisfied with God’s plan being unveiled in your presence, day by day. Imagine living by faith with reckless abandon the adventure to which he calls you. Don’t shy from it despite your pain, your doubts, your regrets, or your fears. Embrace this new year as a gift to be fully explored and enjoyed.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19