Release

Forgive me for occupying a paragraph of my own writing space with that of another’s words, but I fear I would be depriving you of the heart of my most recent meditation if I did not present you with this piece of insight, by author Frederick Buechner:

"To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do- to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst- is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed." -Frederick Buechner

The question that has been pressing on my heart and mind this past month has been that of why we, as children of God, work so hard to protect ourselves rather than relinquishing that power over to our Heavenly Father? Can we not see the repercussions of taking this burden upon ourselves and that it only serves to harm us further? We work to create these fences, these illusions of our own self-protection, when the bravest thing we can do for ourselves is to let go, and let God.

Please understand that I am learning this first in my own life as I write this meditation, but I’m coming to believe one of the most courageous things a Christian can do is to cry out to the Lord and bring what was once hidden in the dark to the light through prayer; “The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.” –Proverbs 15:8

It is crucial within this verse to understand that the wicked are any of those not found in Christ, but if you are saved in Him, you ARE the upright! This identification as righteous men and women of God is not found in our attempts to reach some standard of perfection within our day-to-day actions; neither can this identity be lost by anything of our own doing. This grace requires no effort on our part, for it was already bought and freely given to us in Christ! It doesn’t matter what the wicked lay down if they have not ultimately given wholly of themselves. We are saved by a God that simply asks for all of who we are and that we continue to hand all else that comes our way to Him.

It is in seeking our own false sense of power that we hang onto our fears and wrestle with them alone, rather than lifting them up to the Lord in prayer. For what should we withhold from the One who collects our every tear?

Don’t allow yourself to become discouraged when the circumstances of life hit you harder than you would’ve expected, and don’t fall into the lie of believing yourself to be of weak nature. We are all victors in Christ; any difficult circumstances thrown your way, when you seek to honor the Lord in your everyday trials, should serve as a type of catharsis- a method of scrubbing out the mess inside and of releasing it to God so as not to allow past wounds to fester and scar us further. God seeks not that we stay the same, but that we move according to His truth and become transformed into one more like His Son.

So speak to Him and release to Him! Let your requests be known to God and ask Him to bring you the courage needed to reach out in Spirit in your time of need. Because it says in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”