It’s time to release.

 

What are you gripping?  Do you ever feel like if you let go, you’ll fall into a chasm of hopelessness? There’s a time to fight and hang on for dear life and then there’s a time to release.

 

And sometimes the release is the best battle strategy we could ever choose. Sometimes the release is what fighting looks like and releasing is when we find our strength.

 

It’s one of the paradoxes of following Christ. It’s a both/and. It’s both facing the battle and releasing. You can stand firm on your battlefield and still choose to release. But what do we release?

 

We release our thanksgiving, our praise, our remembrance of who God is and what he has done. That’s how we battle.

 

We release our control and perceived outcome on how God should move in our situation. That’s how we know peace and hope.

 

The following scripture passage is taken from 2 Chronicles 20. The verses I share here are only a small part of the greater story and I hope you’ll open your Bible and read the full chapter. First, they stood, and then they released.

 

Stand and Release

 

“After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” 2 Chronicles 20:21-22

 

Enemies take different forms. They can be people, but they can take shape through our insecurities, our doubts, and even our thoughts. But God. He transforms, he renews, he holds us close, and he never fails.

 

Let’s release today. Release what? Both praise, worship, thanksgiving and our fears about the future, or our grip on the outcome of our current circumstances.

 

The Prayer:

 

Holy God,

 

We come to you unknowing how you will work things out, but we stand firm in our faith that you love, that you are our refuge, that through you we are strong. And as we stand, we release our praise for your goodness and kindness. That you are great and mighty and oh so gracious. Oh Lord, you are with us, right here, right now. You are in our past, and already in our tomorrows, and we are grateful.

 

God, we release our angst over our lives and our kids’ lives and the circumstances that we have no control over, but seem to be controlling us. We surrender them to you and we trust you. We know that as we trust, we cannot be shaken, we cannot fail, because you are our rock and refuge. You help, you provide, and you guide.

 

Lord, as we release we ask that you would move on our behalf and that you would enable us to trust you even when we cannot see you. Holy One, you are mighty and good and filled with inexpressible love for us and we receive you. We believe you and we receive your love.

 

Let us go into our todays with confidence and face our tomorrows with trust because you are with us.

 

I love you, Lord and praise you with all that I am. I look to you. You are my everything, In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

I pray that this week is a week of release. That you will be set free in ways you never dreamed.

 

I wrote an article on what it means to have a gentle and quiet spirit. If you’d like to read it, you can find it here.

 

May Lord bless you as the sun rises and sets and may you know the light of his face as he looks at you,

 

 

xoxo,

Jessica