Letting Go

I was writing a blog post to wrap up the month of April, but I ended up scratching that one. It was full of doom and gloom and woe is me stuff, and I just couldn’t finish it. It was depressing me just writing it, and I don’t need any more negativity in my life right now.

April was not a good month for me; let’s just leave it at that. I don’t need to go into details. The fact is, we all have problems and we’re all dealing with difficult things on a regular basis. There is no sense in dwelling on things I can’t change.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying April showers bring May flowers. It’s more of a metaphor for life; however, if you reside in Missouri, you know we’ve been getting a plethora of rain lately. Hopefully, we’ll also have an abundance of blooming flowers and other precious plants soon.

In life, we sometimes go through seasons of downpours as well. Sometimes they come so heavily upon us that they consume us and make us feel like we’re drowning. When it rains, it pours is another popular saying, and I’m sure we’ve all felt that way at times.

However, the Lord’s promises remain through the rains and the floods. “For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell…,” (Song of Solomon 2:11-13).

If it seems as though you come face-to-face with another new challenge that threatens your peace every time you turn a corner, know that the Lord wants you to let go of your worries and simply give them over to Him. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you,” (1 Peter 5:7).

Because we live in an imperfect and often corrupt world, this can be difficult to do. However, as a child of God, I know that despite my current struggles and the flood of worries presently surrounding me, Jesus is my protector, my chain-breaker. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble,” (Psalm 46:1).

God will test our faith, just like He did with other believers before us. He wants us to simply let go of our fears and insecurities and put our complete faith in Him, knowing He will rescue us from the floods of life. It may feel counteractive to let go and stop struggling when under water; however, Jesus promises if we do, He’ll be there to pull us out of the depths.

Therefore, let go of the things that are troubling and binding you. Jesus’ peace is yours, and worldly chains have no real hold on you.

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron,” (Psalm 107:13-16).

Delete That

Have you ever experienced a time when you said something or wrote something that you immediately regretted after having done so?

I’ve done that more times than I care to admit. I immediately wished to hit the delete button or go back in time a few moments to correct my mistake, if only I could.

In high school, I took a business course in which we were learning to use speech recognition software to transcribe our verbal dictation onto a computerized document. We weren’t allowed to use the keyboard, so if the transcription was incorrect or didn’t pick up our voice correctly, we had to correct our mistake verbally by saying, very clearly, “Delete that.” Then it would delete our mistake, or, if you had my luck, it would often type out “Delete that” instead.

I remember a specific time when I had emailed some classmates in nursing school about a project we were working on. In the email I was complaining about the assignment our professor had given us to complete. Unbeknownst to me, when I went to send it to my group, I somehow accidentally sent it to my professor as well. I didn’t realize what I’d done until I received a simple three-word email in response later that evening that read, “Et tu, Brute?”

I wanted to hide away and never show my face to that professor again. I wanted to say, “Delete that,” and start again. However, I couldn’t do any of those things. Instead, I felt chains of embarrassment and shame take hold of me.

So, what did I do? The thing I knew I needed to do. I immediately apologized to the professor and explained why I said the things I said, which was mostly due to stress and frustration. My professor graciously accepted my apology, and I finished my nursing course successfully.

When we do or say things we regret, it is often due to intense emotions. Sometimes we may get clues that we’re about to go off, such as an increased heart rate or feeling the flush throughout our body as our blood pressure begins to spike. Sometimes we can calm ourselves and prevent the catastrophe that’s sure to come.

However, oftentimes we just reflexively say and do dumb things because we’re human. The Bible teaches us to strive to do better because, “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end,” Proverbs 29:11.

When we do/say/think wrongly, God wants us to repent. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,” (Acts 3:19).

What does repent mean? According to Oxford Languages online, the definition of repent is to “feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing of sin.” This past Sunday, my pastor spoke about repentance, and his definition was this: “to repent is to turn your back on sin and turn your face to the Lord.”

Therefore, we must confess our sins to the Lord and repent of those sins if we want true freedom from and forgiveness of them. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness,” (1 John 1:9).

Jesus Christ is our help, our healing, and our transformation power. His sacrificial death on the cross was His promise to us that we don’t have to live life under the bondage of sin. We can be freed from the hopelessness and shame that our poor decisions bury us in.

Christ alone can break us out of all the worldly chains that seek to trap us in lies and guilt and sorrow, all those things that make us feel like failures and that we’re not good enough. “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death,” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

Do you have regrets that are holding you down? Have you done or said something you wish you could take back? While we unfortunately can’t delete things that have happened in the past, we can confess, repent, ask for forgiveness, and in turn forgive those who have hurt us. Break away from your past mistakes knowing you are forgiven through the blood of Jesus. Then, forgive yourself, learn from those mistakes, and move forward.

Overcoming Rejection

They say when you start doing God’s will in your life, the devil starts working hard to combat that in whatever way he can. My pastor spoke two Sundays ago about rejection as a Christian. When we truly give our lives to the Lord, we will face rejection. Sometimes that rejection is a sign that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing.

I am facing rejection in a big way right now. However, as a child of God, I know that He will never reject me. In love He desires a relationship with me and wants to take care of me. I know He has something better on the horizon for me. Therefore, I can accept today’s rejection knowing that greater joy is coming to my life later.

There is a biblical woman who had a difficult life with unfortunate circumstances and rejection that were often out of her control. Her name was Hagar, and you can read more about her in Genesis 16:1-16 and 21:8-21.

This is what the Bible tells us about Hagar. She was the Egyptian servant of Abram’s (later Abraham’s) wife Sarai (later Sarah). Because she had been unable to conceive a child with Abram, Sarai took matters into her own hands and gave Hagar to Abram to sleep with and have a child with.

Think about how you would feel if you were Hagar. First, she was a slave in a foreign land. She was far from home, had no one to turn to in times of trouble, and wasn’t free to make her own decisions. Then, most likely against her will, she was forced to sleep with her mistress’ husband (an 86 year old man) and get pregnant by him. In Genesis 16:4b we read how Hagar was feeling at that time: “When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.”

Sarai then complained to Abram about Hagar’s attitude toward her. “’Your servant is in your hands,’ Abram said. ‘Do with her whatever you think best.’ Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her,” (Genesis 16:6).

Hagar had done what her mistress demanded of her and then was mistreated by her afterward. After running away from her mistress, God sent an angel to Hagar who told her the Lord had heard her misery but to return to Sarai and obey her. He also promised the Lord would give Hagar more descendants than she could count through her son Ishmael.

Overjoyed that God took the time to hear her and see her when she felt all alone, Hagar returned to serve Sarai and had her son Ishmael as God had promised. However, that was not the end of Hagar’s struggles.

When Ishmael was a teenager, Sarah and Abraham finally had their promised son Isaac. The Bible tells us that Sarah became angry because Ishmael, who had been an only child up to this point, was mocking her son Isaac. Therefore, Sarah demanded that Abraham kick Hagar and Ishmael out of his home. Although Abraham was distressed by this, God reassured Abraham that Isaac would be his true heir, but He would also make Abraham’s son Ishmael into a great nation.

Therefore, the next day Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael on their way with some food and water. Having nowhere to go, they wandered in the Desert of Beersheba until they ran out of provisions. Not wanting to watch her only child die of dehydration and starvation, Hagar laid him by some bushes and went to sit alone and cry.

Have you ever been in such a position…when you feel like you’ve done all you could, and it still wasn’t enough? One of my biggest fears is having to watch one of my children die. My heart goes out to you mothers who’ve had to experience that. I pray that I never do.

Thankfully, there was still hope for Hagar and her son. As she was crying in the desert, God again heard her and came to her rescue. “…the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, ‘What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.’ Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt,” (Genesis 21:17-21).

Hagar was rejected by her superiors not once, but twice. However, both times when she felt completely alone, full of despair and doubt, God heard her and freed her from her hopelessness.

In this world, there can never be true peace because anything of this world can be taken from us at any time; it’s only temporary. Additionally, people will let you down because that’s human nature, putting our own desires before others. It’s Godly nature to do the opposite.

Therefore, remember that our peace comes from Jesus, and because it comes from Him, it can never be taken from us. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid,” (John 14:27).

Are feeling rejected today? If so, know that God alone can penetrate the deepest and saddest parts of you and make you feel whole and loved again. Jesus died on the cross to promise us a life free from the bondage of sin, free from hopelessness, free from any chains that try to trap us. In Christ, we are set free. We just need to seek Him. “…that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,” (Acts 17:27).

In obedience to the Lord, we must let go of those things that try to pull us away from Him and drag us into the murky depths of despair and self-doubt. We must also seek freedom through repentance of sins and pray for and forgive those who reject us.

As the song by Tasha Cobbs Leonard goes, “There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain, break every chain, break every chain.”

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed,” (John 8:36).

Have a blessed week!

-Becky