There are many different types of loss, loss of a loved one, a job, identity, hope, joy even loss of the familiar. Loss can be paralyzing; you do not have to be behind bars to be imprisoned. Our own thoughts can keep us in bondage. Yet there is freedom for everyone no matter where you are. Take the regrets, mistakes, failures all of it and get rid of those heavy weights and receive forgiveness, lay it down at the foot of the cross. One thing I ask myself, no matter how big the situation I am dealing with, “Can you change it? Can you go back and change anything?” This very question can be paralyzing but it is meant to help put things into perspective. The answer is no. So, now what do I do? Look to God’s Word first. Paul says in Philippians, “But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” We must keep our focus forward. This may become a daily choice and feel like a daily chore at first and it will be hard, but we must take control of our thoughts! We choose to think on what is before not what is behind. I know this struggle well! Good messages come from big messes. I wish I were just gifted with ideas to share in a lovely manner that would inspire people. Instead, God uses the muck and the difficult circumstances to craft messages from real life experiences. So, you can know if He can do it for me, He will do it for you! Letting it go is not easy, it's in the surrender. I cannot wrap my head around some of the choices I made in life, but it’s done. Somehow this feels like where a brick wall should be inserted, but with God all things are possible. Take the weights of the losses and mistakes, all the shoulda, coulda, wouldas and lay them at the cross. This means we are taking all those burdensome weights and giving them to Jesus, acknowledging and accepting what He did on the cross. He paid the price for our sins giving us His grace and mercy. His sacrifice was the ultimate, it was more than sufficient, it was complete!
Hebrews 12:1-3 says, 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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Walk in the mercy He has given you and do not let your minds relive the wrongs and the hurt. You are not meant to lug those heavy burdens through life. When dealing with the grief of loss keeping God as a priority in our thoughts will keep us on the right path. Jesus says in Matthew 11:29-30, 29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I want to shed some light into the darkness of loss, that good can come from even this! I am not talking about those ten pesky pounds you want to lose. However, the burden of loss is a heavy weight to carry. This is a reason people write books about the war in our minds. The enemy uses thoughts to move us off what God’s Word says. The Word of God tells us to take captive those thoughts and cast down imaginations. We are to think wholly on the Word of God. The enemy’s warfare on our minds can feel worse after we take it to Jesus because the enemy wants to convince you otherwise. It is a lie, don't believe it! He doesn’t want you to take your healing or deliverance, he wants you bound. God loves you so much He sent His son to set you free!
Put on your strength, shake off the dust and be loosed from what binds you! These words are taken from Isaiah 52. These are words of strength spoken to the one grieving the death of a loved one lost to suicide, the one who lost their parent to Cancer, one whose friend was taken from this world too early, it speaks to the one who went through a divorce, to the single mom as she returns to school, the person who watches a loved one suffer with Alzheimer’s, the one who lost their job, the mother who lives far from grown children, the one who has suffered rejection and broken relationships, the one who lives in a new town and is alone, the one who misses their home, those who miss their beloved pet and as life goes on so does the list! Loss comes in many forms, and I have been all these women. These words of strength are life giving! They are words I need every single day! We all do! Life is filled with fantastic times, and it is filled with times of struggling to stay afloat! We need to set our thinking on Jesus rather than the circumstances and distractions that can seemingly engulf us. Jesus is our magnificent hope! So shake off the dust and be loosed from what binds you and remember, “Now to Him Who, by the power that is at work within us, is able to do superabundantly, far over and above all that we ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]. To Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3: 20-21).
Excerpt from Strength in Faith by Dawn Love
Hebrews 12:1-3 says, 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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Walk in the mercy He has given you and do not let your minds relive the wrongs and the hurt. You are not meant to lug those heavy burdens through life. When dealing with the grief of loss keeping God as a priority in our thoughts will keep us on the right path. Jesus says in Matthew 11:29-30, 29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I want to shed some light into the darkness of loss, that good can come from even this! I am not talking about those ten pesky pounds you want to lose. However, the burden of loss is a heavy weight to carry. This is a reason people write books about the war in our minds. The enemy uses thoughts to move us off what God’s Word says. The Word of God tells us to take captive those thoughts and cast down imaginations. We are to think wholly on the Word of God. The enemy’s warfare on our minds can feel worse after we take it to Jesus because the enemy wants to convince you otherwise. It is a lie, don't believe it! He doesn’t want you to take your healing or deliverance, he wants you bound. God loves you so much He sent His son to set you free!
Put on your strength, shake off the dust and be loosed from what binds you! These words are taken from Isaiah 52. These are words of strength spoken to the one grieving the death of a loved one lost to suicide, the one who lost their parent to Cancer, one whose friend was taken from this world too early, it speaks to the one who went through a divorce, to the single mom as she returns to school, the person who watches a loved one suffer with Alzheimer’s, the one who lost their job, the mother who lives far from grown children, the one who has suffered rejection and broken relationships, the one who lives in a new town and is alone, the one who misses their home, those who miss their beloved pet and as life goes on so does the list! Loss comes in many forms, and I have been all these women. These words of strength are life giving! They are words I need every single day! We all do! Life is filled with fantastic times, and it is filled with times of struggling to stay afloat! We need to set our thinking on Jesus rather than the circumstances and distractions that can seemingly engulf us. Jesus is our magnificent hope! So shake off the dust and be loosed from what binds you and remember, “Now to Him Who, by the power that is at work within us, is able to do superabundantly, far over and above all that we ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]. To Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3: 20-21).
Excerpt from Strength in Faith by Dawn Love
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