Release It

Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you. I Peter 5:7 TPT

Last week was a rough one. I have a feeling I am not alone. So many of us are struggling to make sense of everything. I heard someone say, “the world is on fire.” And it feels like that, doesn’t it?

Last week was hard for me for a different reason than COVID-19, isolation, not enough toilet paper on the store shelves, or wearing a mask to the grocery store.

Side note: Anyone who wears glasses this question is for you. Do you find that your glasses fog up when you wear a fabric mask? I’m now grocery shopping without glasses. A. This makes finding things a little bit of a challenge. and B. Reading my shopping list on my iPhone, is next to impossible. I’m fortunate I’ve been able to negotiate a trip to Fry’s successfully getting everything on my list. Woo Hoo!

Last week was different because I heard a story of suffering on Tuesday that decentered me. I’ve heard a lot of sad stories over the years, but this one landed in my heart and wouldn’t let go. I found myself thinking of it all day Tuesday and actually cried myself to sleep because it was so horrific and heart-breaking.

Wednesday I awoke with heavy images in my mind. I couldn’t shake it. I prayed for the person involved and even for the person who inflicted the pain. I was desperate to resolve this in my own mind. To be able to move past it and not have it cloud my day. But to no avail. The images and the story wouldn’t leave me.

Thursday morning, I awoke with a whisper from the Holy Spirit. As I wrote in Stop the Lies: 30 Days to Freedom, “The Holy Spirit, our advocate, our counselor is constantly leading and directing us back to Jesus.”

You see, the Holy Spirit does not condemn us. He didn’t hit me over the head and ask my why I was carrying this weight for the past several days. No, instead He gently reminded me of a new app I recently downloaded, The Pause App. Click here to check it out.

It’s my new favorite thing. It was created by John Eldridge. This app allows you to listen to his voice reminding you to give everything to Jesus while soothing music plays in the background. He is reminding us to “give everyone and everything to” Jesus.

The Holy Spirit reminded me to look to Jesus and to give this story to Him. To literally imagine myself holding this person in my hands and placing this person in Jesus’ hands. The key He kept pointing out to me was to release it to Jesus. To release: to let go. Oh, how I needed this reminder.

So, I immediately closed my eyes and saw myself lifting my hands to Him and releasing this person into the loving, faithful, and trustworthy hands of my Savior. What makes this so powerful is understanding that we can trust Jesus. If I can’t trust Him fully, I can’t release it.

The Holy Spirit then went on to show me that at the end of each work day to remain at my desk for one minute, open the Pause App, and slowly and methodically give Him my day and the people that I come in contact with throughout the day. All the sadness, hand it to Him. When the minute is over, to rise from my desk in freedom.

Friends, this is such a beautiful spiritual discipline.

The discipline to release and trust.

Today’s verse is found in the Passion Translation. In the notes the translator added this note: “Or ‘Load upon him your every anxiety, for he is always watching over you with tender care.’ See also Ps. 55:22.” Isn’t that just beautiful! That’s what the Holy Spirit was telling me to do, to unload my every anxiety onto Him. Why? Because “He is always watching over [me] with tender care.” I sat there for awhile and then I turned to Psalm 55:22 in the Passion Translation.

And when I did I saw I had underlined that very verse and the last line of verse 23. The only things I underlined on two pages! Take a look at what it says.

So here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you…My life’s hope and trust is in you, and you’ll never fail to rescue me!

Wow! What beautiful words! David didn’t even know what we know about Jesus and he wrote about “measureless grace.” Friends, our strength comes from the Lord and the grace He shows us. It’s because of His grace that I can leave the hard, the ugly, the inconceivable, in His hands.

If you are struggling with some form of anxiety or something gnawing at you, Jesus is inviting you into a deeper relationship with Him. Take Him your worries, your cares, your anxious thoughts. Imagine yourself handing them over to Him. Releasing then into His care. And walk away in freedom.

*Stop the Lies: 30 Days to Freedom, my latest book, is available on Amazon. Click here to purchase your copy and a copy for a friend.