Peaceful Pictures

Let it Go

Letting go is so much harder than it sounds.  I can let go of junk mail and spending money pretty easily.  However, letting go of hurts, worry, and my entitlement is a lot more difficult.

Ephesians 4:31-32

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 

What is the message that I felt that I was supposed to be learning recently?--  peace--maintaining peace, holding on to peace, seeking peace, and pursuing peace.  Today:  mission failed.  Thank God that He is the God of second chances.

1 Peter 3:11

Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

When picturing peace, one may think of a bubbling brook, green pasture, or breezy beach (yes, please).  That's too easy.  My peace needs to come when I am on the battlefield, i.e., being yelled at by a child with autism, tackling a schedule that is way too busy, or facing disappointment when plans fail or opinions differ.  How can I remain in the bubble of peace in the midst of a tornado swirling about me pulling at my wit's end?  

Philippians 4:6 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

Picture Jesus in the boat in the storm (Matthew 8), perfectly trusting, perfectly sound and steady.  He is the answer to peace in the midst of the daily storm of life.

Here are 3 exercises to let go (of stress, worry, etc.):

1) Breath out.  

I've used this one most often driving home from a stressful day.  Take each stressor and put it (clear throat, him/her) on the forefront of your thoughts.  Breathe in a deep breath.  Breathe out that stressor, imagining it floating out with your breath.  May it leave you cleaned out and full of fresh wind.  My friend Nicki used to say, "In the good air, out the bad air."  Also, your deep cleansing breaths send a message to your body to relax, and you need that.

2) Lay it at His feet.

Physically kneel as you approach the Lord's throne of grace.  Imagine you are kneeling at Jesus' feet, the foot of the cross, etc.  Ask him to take your burdens.  He can carry them.  Lay each one down, naming them as you do.  You can even use your hands physically to symbolically represent your laying down of each heavy weight.

3) Shred it.

I have written down past hurts on paper, even from childhood, that I've carried for too long.  I have prayed over them, crying as I listen to Tammy Trent's "I'm Letting Go."  Then I put that paper into my paper shredder and feel a release as it is eaten up.

Shalom prayer (based on the definition of Shalom)

Lord, Forgive me for not trusting in you nor seeking your peace.

Forgive me for trying to control my circumstances and not resting in you.

I pray that you would grant me shalom. 

Help me to seek your peace and pursue it.

I pray for completeness and wholeness in you. 

Grant me your peace, soundness, and safety.

I pray for spiritual, mental, and physical heath and welfare.  

May your tranquility within me be evident to others, 

and may your harmony through me bless others.  

Please bestow on me your rest and peace in the stormy moments and the still moments.

Amen.