Put It Down

“Yesterday is heavy, put it down.” -Author Unknown

A dear friend of mine adopted the hashtag #goletgo last year as her mantra and I absolutely loved it. Lately, though it has reminded me of how hard it is to GO if I do not LET GO. Letting go is a struggle of mine.

Unpleasant Reminders

As I worked through decluttering my home, things from the past surfaced and with them, the realization that much of my heart needed to be decluttered, as well. Pictures from the past stirred my heart. At first, it was just the beauty of reminiscing…that warm fuzzy feeling of remembering people and events from the past in some of them, or rolling my eyes at the stupidity in others. But then, the warm fuzzy feelings faded. Photos from my teen years reminded me that I didn’t belong. I didn’t fit in. I wasn’t enough. Some from my college and military days showed a girl desperate for the same approval. Feelings of “not enoughness” (as Jennie Allen calls them in her book Nothing to Prove), and failure overwhelmed my heart.

Decluttering My Heart

Many of things that were flooding my soul that day were lies that I have already addressed. Why, then do they resurface with such fury? Because, Satan. He walks around like a roaring lion seeking anyone he can devour (1 Peter 5:8) and he uses the same old tricks
like bringing up my past. He tells me that I should feel nothing but shame for the things I’ve done, the life I’ve lived, and that nothing I do will ever be good enough. But the devil is liar. There is One who looks at me and sees none of that. In fact, He tells me that he doesn’t even remember it. (Hebrews 10:17, Jeremiah 31:34) His name is Jesus.

Letting Go

As I continue to move forward in this crazy life, I know these old thoughts may try to latch on and come along on the journey. I will most definitely make brand new mistakes and need to lay them down, as well. Life is a journey. A process. To become who I am meant to be, I must lay down the dead bones of who I was. When I see them along the journey, I can’t pick them up and take them up and carry them with me. “We’re all rough drafts of the people we’re still becoming” -Bob Goff. How much easier it is to give ourselves and others grace if we keep this in mind.

I hope you ask yourself what you maybe trying to carry with you on your journey. Maybe it isn’t reminders of your less than perfect past. Is it unforgiveness? An addiction? A harmful relationship? Or maybe you just need let go of your own agenda to be free to take up His? Whatever it is, I pray that you can put it down because y’all, yesterday IS heavy and bringing it into today is a choice.