Sunday, March 10, 2013

Lost Baggage


“But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

Are there certain people or events in your past that have caused rooted feelings of regret, remorse, injustice, or disappointment? These hang-ups can build up and settle deep down in our hearts, distracting and nibbling away at our attitudes toward life. I am pretty sure that we know that when we carry around too much baggage, our bodies grow weary and our minds become cloudy and cluttered with negativity.  But letting go isn’t always easy, as a matter of fact it can be very hard! Our tendency is to hold on because these things tend to become attachments, however the longer we carry it the worse it gets, because when we continually hang on to something we aren’t allowing ourselves to move forward and we are carrying useless baggage that’s really slowing us down.

Letting go means…

To move or proceed (especially to or from something)

To leave a place; depart

To attempt to obtain; strive for

To proceed without hesitation or delay

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1)

What would our life be like if we let go of our resentment and anger over things that are beyond our control, or if we let go of the pain we have been carrying from things that happened long ago? For most of us, we muster all our faith to believe that everything will work out in the end…but we struggle daily…we give our problems to God then take them back again. Being in control makes us feel safe and secure but often turns into a bad habit that very often gets us nowhere and our little controllable world gets more and more fragile. When we learn to let go of some control we are taking a step closer to having total faith and trust in God, and we begin to accept the reality that God’s wisdom is ever present and available; He can fill every void and the emptiness we feel when we battle feelings of pain and discontent. That’s when we know we’ve surrendered to God; when we rely on Him to work things out instead of holding on to past regrets. God wants us to give Him…surrender to Him…everything that is not of Him, and grow rather than to remain stuck in in a place or situation that is holding us back.

“God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

There is really no point hanging on to past regrets or grudges because (most of the time) there is really nothing we can do about what has happened except to learn from it. If we don’t like where we are at in this moment, it is our decision to make a different choice and move forward instead of being stuck in the past. As long as we live we will deal with setbacks, missed opportunities, painful relationships, and tons of mistakes, but we can’t waste our time mourning for things we can’t change because we miss the opportunities of the present. God created us with everything we need in order to be used by Him, and we have to stop allowing the things that we encounter along the way to become baggage that prevent us from moving forward. When we truly let go and let God, the result is that we‘ve lost most of the fear and unhappiness that we have been carrying and we slow down long enough to allow God to take control over our lives.
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30 comments:

  1. Letting go is another act of love, and perhaps one of the greatest acts of all, its tough to do but necessary. Great post...

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a lovely comment Virginia! :)

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  2. Yes Denise it is good to let the Lord handle that feeling of regret, disappointment or anger of the past. The apostle Paul spent a great deal of time and energy dealing with such matters that were creeping into the early churches all over Asia and Greece. 'Course all he could do was implore & persuade them to repent, rebuke and discipline themselves into obedience to the Lord. In the end he had to leave it up to the individuals and the Holy Spirit. It's no different for us. Thanks for the reminder.

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    1. Very good thoughts here; and so true that it is our decision to do it all in obedience to Him! :) Thanks for stopping by...

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  3. How true your words are Denise! God sees the motives behind all of our actions. Why hold on to those feelings? They only cause us to rationalize our behavior towards others. Great word for today.

    Blessings and love,
    Debbie

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    1. Thanks Debbie! I am learning to let go of feelings of hurt and regret and place it His hands; there is so much more to do and think about than troublesome thoughts! :)

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  4. Wise lessons I learn here. Always special to see/read your blog. I love the beautiful images (make by you?) An the different font styles. Letting go is therapeutically very good for my soul. It's hard sometimes. But it is possible because Christ helps me to do it.

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    1. So true Jedidja, and thank you for your kind words my friend. I would love to take the credit for the art, but no it isn't made by me! :) Maybe someday! :)

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  5. God designed us to give over all those hurts and pains to Him for only He can handle them and bring good out of difficult situations....Thank so much for your words of wisdom today....

    By the way, did you do all this art work on your blog; I don't remember seeing it in the past?

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    1. I am learning that more and more Nancy! :) No, I would love to say the art is mine, but Pinterest gets most of the credit-ha!

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  6. This is really helped me! And It will continue to! Thank YOU SO MUCH for posting!

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    1. Thanks Mike; I am glad it blessed you friend! :)

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  7. Hi Denise, Ouch and Wow! That first scripture is one of my favourites and right now i feel bitterness creeping in. There are those i need to let go and you have just reminded me and given me the scriptures to do just that. I leave them now in God's hands.
    Thank you my friend for always encouraging me
    God bless
    Tracy

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  8. Letting go is a faith move. We must believe God when he tells us to cast our burdens on Him or to hold our peace and He'll fight our battles. Just as anything we must have faith for...it CAN'T work, if we don't believe it will! If we only take Him at His word, we'll find out that on the other side of our baggage is a life filled with peace, joy and fulfillment in Him! Thanks so much for sharing this Denise, we all need to be reminded! Have a blessed week! ;-)

    Michell @Prowess and Pearls

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    1. Thanks for dropping by and linking up today my friend! ~Blessings to you and yours~

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    2. My pleasure Mitchell; love your thoughts above. I love the thought of my baggage being filled with peace, joy, and fulfillment! :) Blessings sweet lady!

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  9. The devil wants us to hold on! And many times just when we think it's surrendered he sneaks it back in with constant reminders. I've found the best way I can deal with it is to remind him that while he may still remember, God doesn't. It's gone!

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    1. Amen Pamela; I love this thought! :) Blessings friend!

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  10. Saw this on a link-up and thought it was nice. Something that I kind of needed right now. Thanks for sharing.

    Patrick

    csuhpat1.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Patrick; have a blessed day! :)

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  11. Amen! What an uplifting reminder of how He wants us to move forward and be new in HIM! You have been given the gift of encouragement and hope. And, I am thankful that I know you, my blogging friend. Thank you, Denise!

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    1. Thank you Cynthia; you have always been a blessing too, and I am so thankful for the words and lovely craft you have been blessed with! :)

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  12. You're right! Hanging onto the past robs us of today. There have been events in my life that I tend to "go back to". But,there is nothing I can do about the past. I am so thankful that God has brought me through the rough times and forgive me of my past sins. He wants us to enjoy today and the blessings He is continually giving us, but if we are focused on the pain and regret of our past, we will miss the beauty He has for us today. Yup..."let go and let God". Great advice. Thanks Denise! Blessings, Joan

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    1. I agree completely Joan; be thankful and enjoy all the beauty of the day! Have a joyful weekend my friend!

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  13. Thank you, Denise. I needed the reminders to let go and give everything to God and not try to control things myself. These are things I struggle with all the time.

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  14. I struggle at times too Peggy, but I am getting better at trusting Him to work all things together for my good! :)

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  15. In the past few weeks, God has urged me to shed this very thing you wrote about here Denise. Just like you said, we give it to God then we pick it right back up way too many times. The other day on my 45 minute drive to work...I felt God say to me to turn off the radio and to just listen to him. I know He doesn't talk audibly (so wish he did though) but he spoke to me loud and clear about how I don't really listen because I have all of this junk- self sabatoge or worry etc... going on in my head much of the time. He told me that stuff needed to go so that I could have room to think and hear him whisper to me what he wanted me to do for him on that day and all other days too. So I've been purposely trying to still my mind (give it to God and quit trying to fix it myself)so I can hear him more. It's hard work!!!....and so worth it. I love waiting to hear from HIM when I quiet my thoughts.

    Loved your post Denise. You are the encourager!
    ♥Lee Ann

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    1. Aw; thank you sweet friend! I love when God has something to say and I listen; He always shows up at the perfect time to give us strength and wisdom! :) Blessings LeeAnn!

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  16. I love seeing your art. And your wise words really spoke to me. Our family is in the process of "letting go." Not easy but needful. We're praying for new opportunities in God's kingdom.

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  17. Oh how true that clinging onto past hurts steal the joy of our present.

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