Letting Go of the Hard Stuff

Some of the snow from last week stubbornly refused to melt.

As I was walking yesterday and thanking God for the gorgeous weather and the reprieve from this horrendous winter, some snow caught my eye. It was in the high fifties yesterday. There shouldn’t have been any snow left, but there was. Under closer examination, I realized that the snow was in the shade and the sun was unable to shine on it and so it remained.

God often communicates with me through nature and that stubborn snow whirled around in my thoughts for the rest of the day. Our hearts can sometimes be icy. When we accept the love and grace of Jesus, they are warmed and become vibrant. But sometimes we choose to keep certain parts shaded and away from the all forgiving light of Christ.

Things like guilt stay high on that list. You know what I’m talking about. We give our hearts to Jesus and we do everything we’re supposed to. We pray, read our Bibles and go to church. But we still feel like we are not good enough for complete forgiveness because of something we did in our past. So we keep that little part of our heart out of the forgiving light. It stays icy.

Another example is our worries. We will profess to know that God loves us beyond a shadow of a doubt, but we worry that He won’t provide for us. Will we have enough money? Will we have enough to eat?

I struggle with worries about my kids. I worry about mean kids. I worry about their future. I worry about their safety.

This thought pattern doesn’t come from God. It comes from Satan. If we give all of our hearts to God, even the guilty parts, the worries and there are many other examples, then we are free to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. We are free to live in peace and joy. Satan is not big on peace, joy or forgiveness. They are fruits of the Holy Spirit and he will always directly oppose that fruit.

This is where the Bible can be very helpful. If God is capable of having the ravens feed Elijah, if He is capable of  having the walls of Jericho crumble with a horn blast and a shout, if He is capable of feeding five thousand with a couple of fish and five loaves of bread, if Jesus walked on water, can we truly believe that He can’t provide for His believers? Do we really believe that He isn’t willing or capable of forgiving  or healing whatever we are carrying around?

We always have a choice of whether we are going to listen to the voice of God or the lies of Satan. One choice gives us freedom to be all we were created to be. The other leaves us with icy spots. I say, let’s get rid of all of the shade and choose the light. Let’s choose God. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂