walkpast

 

When Richard and I moved last year we fought over discussed whether we should pack a heavy bucket of industrial sized tools.

“Hon, they’re rusty. They’re heavy. You haven’t used them in five years. Let’s sell them in a garage sale or give them to someone who will use them.”

He held tight to the oversized white bucket. “I might need them someday.”

So we lugged the rusty, 75 lb. bucket of tools on to the moving truck and across the state lines. They’re still with us — rusting away under the house.

Some of us carry around our old selves like that bucket of rusty tools.

I want it.

I might need it.

I don’t want to give it up.

I HATE IT.

I wish I could just let go.

It doesn’t give me what I thought it would.

I want it . . .

You are sick of this cycle. You are sick of hanging on. It’s been going on for a long time and you might even feel trapped.

Maybe it served a purpose at one time. It numbed you. It was your go-to. But now it’s heavy. It’s a burden. You don’t want it and you certainly don’t need it.

How do you let go?

. . . put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self,  created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22b-23 (NIV)

We call it what is. . . 

It’s our old self. It’s not who we are.

We stop offering excuses about why we might need it, and point to the fact that we’ve carried it around for years and it’s not useful at all.

It’s a rusty bucket of tools. 

Calling it what it is might feel hard in the beginning, because it’s been such a part of you. But oh, the healing that awaits when you strip it of it’s power.

When you call it what it is: a burden.

One God doesn’t want you to lug around for one.more.second.

We let go

Your grip is going to be tight at first. That’s okay. Remind yourself that it’s a heavy rusty bucket. Put it down.

Over and over again.

One day you walk past it and this thing that used to keep you stuck no longer looks shiny. Or attractive. It’s just an old bucket of rusty tools.

Why in the world did this hold such power over me?

And you walk past it, leaving it behind forever. 

We begin to think differently

The other day someone said things about me that were not true and damaging. I don’t know her. We’ve never met face to face.

“Are you okay, Suz,” a friend asked gently when she read the words.

I was.

I am.

My old self would have been tempted to make this personal. To hurt because of the words. To want to fix it. To help this person understand how unkind and untruthful the words were.

But my new self knows that people are messy. God loves her so much. She’s a work in progress, just like me.

But there was more.

Those words didn’t represent me so I didn’t have to claim them. 

Believe me, this is a work of God in my heart. It’s something He’s done over time.

Because my old self would have held them close and worried and wept over them. Or wrangled them until they tied me in knots of anger.

Over time, as we walk closely with God, our thinking changes from our old selves to our new. In cases like this, we find what we need. We stop fighting useless battles, or trying to prove who we are.

We know whose we are and that’s sufficient.

We put on our new self every day

My “new self” is that I’m His. It’s the truth.

So are you.

So we claim that identity daily. That completely changes the cycle to:

I want Him.

He’s so good.

He changes me

I LOVE HIM

I’m so glad I surrendered.

He is all that I need.

I want Him. 

Suzie

Do you need a resource to help you break a cycle?

I want to share two resources that will help you #livefree. One (The Unburdened Heart) helps you lift the burden you are sick of carrying. The other (The Mended Heart) helps you fill the gaps left behind.

These resources are gentle. They are healing. I pray that they bless you. ~ Suzie

The Mended Heart

TheUnburdenedHeart_large