A Season Of Letting Go

 If there's been one theme I've sensed in the few shorts months that 2024 has been with us, it's been this urgent need to let things go - to get ourselves and our homes right, to forgive and release old hurts and toxic relationships, to get out from under the powerful grip we've allowed the expectations and opinions of others to have on us, to step into a new day and shed the weightiness of the past that's held us back. 

As I've contemplated this, I've been surprised at the fact that, although I've done a lot of personal work in recent years to absolve myself of any bitterness or hard feelings or old wounds, some things still continue to bother me. Perhaps you've got a few of the same. Trauma has a way of sticking with us like that... even if we've taken significant strides to heal and transform and redeem these past sins and pains for good, the inescapable fact is that our bodies, our brains still keep the score. They record everything that's made up the parts of our story and, as such, they can call up certain memories (bad or good!) at the simple sound of a song, a tone of voice, a smell, a body posture, a color, a place, an object. Never mind the fact that the present person or space or item or noise may not have had anything to do with the original instance - at the drop of a hat, we're back there in some past time, feeling everything all over again. 

As frustrating as this cycle of recall is, I'm starting to realize that the even greater danger can be that the Enemy himself tries to use this against us. What is simply a designed act of the body to help us remember and try to protect us from future harm because a weapon by which he accuses, shames, blames, and hurts us, trying to get us to believe things about ourselves, others, God, and life in general that are untrue and painful. He takes all the broken pieces and attempt to convince you that healing isn't an option. He reminds you of times you failed or others failed you and screams that forgiveness is a lie. He loudly tells you that things won't get better and hope is an illusion. He tempts you to drown your sorrows and rejection in toxic behaviors, selling you on the false principle that numbing the pain is better than walking through it. He assaults us in a thousand ways. And often, he's quite successful. 

It's not that we're always just carrying the burden of trauma and a self that was drastically altered in the wake of things we've been through, it's that we're also wrestling against this Enemy-driven attack on our faith and personhood that wants to strip us of anything meaningful and turn us into a defeated, devastated individual with no optimism or potential for recovery. He wants to tear down all the good that may have been invested in your life and make you think that your tragedy, your woundedness is the defining point that ruined you forever. That you can never move past this thing and you'll be stuck here for good, so you might as well unpack your bags and just accept it. 

But among the shouts of this Enemy-accuser stands the bigger, better truth - the one that's been here all along. And it rises above the din of the lies, the hurts, the failings and promises that this too shall be used for good. That even this can be restored and your heart can be renewed. It began with a baby born in a manger and was completed when the Savior walked out of the grave. Bringing life from dead things is His business, and our stories are no different. However hurtful and desperate they may be, God doesn't shy away from them. In fact, He walks right toward them. He welcomes them. He wants us to hand them over to Him. 

As I've studied trauma over the years, I've become increasingly convinced that forgiveness is the key. You must be able to forgive yourself and forgive your neighbor if you want to be whole. If you wish to move forward and write new chapters in the story of who you are, then you must be willing to let some things go. You must stop dragging around old baggage that is keeping you from who and what you want to become and you must give them to the One who alone can mend your heart and mind. Holding onto such things only limits your ability to grow and change and adapt. It only gives more power over to the Enemy and keeps you stuck in the thought patterns and wounds and failures of the past. Accepting the fact that fresh starts aren't just optional but necessary to a progressive life is the first start. Once you're at that point, you can then begin to dig through what's holding you hostage in your soul and brain and start to learn a new way of thinking and being - a way that will change you for the better. 

It seems to me a lot of people are being confronted with this reality right now - this desire to take a long look at what isn't working for them and allow some changes to take place. And I believe that this year is an invitation to any of us out there who are becoming aware that something is enslaving us and hindering our ability to advance toward the person we'd like to become. I feel like this is a season of letting go - of telling the Enemy that we won't listen anymore and we're not giving old fears, old wounds, old lies, old pains the space to run our existence going forward. It's a time where we are determining that the cycle stops here. The trauma needs to be dealt with. The healing has to begin. 

Will this process be uncomfortable? You betcha. Will there be moments when you want to walk away and quit? No doubt. But will it be worth it in the end? Will it be worth the time and energy and intentionality to someday look back and say, 2024 was the year I stopped letting those toxic thoughts and past hurts run my life? Absolutely. It's a season that you'll one day thank yourself for walking through. But you have to live it through in the meantime. 

Spring is arriving and, with it, the renewed reminder of God's redemptive promise. Will you take hold of it today? Will this be your new beginning? I pray that's the case because He said He came to give you abundant life. But you can't experience that unless you get rid of the stuff that's in the way. Go ahead and let go, friend. You'll be glad you did.