Open to close, close to open, the movements we do every single day! Entering into the presence of something or someone and leaving their presence in the same. Life brings a myriad of decisions of whether and when to catch something as well as to release. The book of Ecclesiastes says with confidence that there is a time to sing, a time to be silent, a time to laugh and a time to cry. The point of decision will set the tone for what we will do and for however long.
Amid the reflexes in life is a time to catch and a time to release. Catch to grasp and seize after the pursuit of something and to release to set free from confinement and restraint. If you take the time to evaluate your situation, you’d realize that the inventory of your life has a number of things that are awaiting designation in either of these categories….to catch…to release.
Perhaps it is the power of confession, to call consistently those things dead in your life back to life and to catch the motivation to speak life and not death. Or perhaps it is the release of a toxic relationship that has caused you more pain than a bottle of Tylenol can cure. Letting go can be so hard to do but can sometimes prove to be the very best for you.
So in letting go (RELEASE) remember the following:
1. Baggage gets really heavy…Let it GO!- Expressive therapy refers to the process of identifying creative methods for releasing a thing or person from your atmosphere. You may not want to admit it but baggage can weigh you down. Realize that your feelings are temporary but God’s word is eternal. Pick up an empty notebook and begin to write your feelings out about how the experience is causing you to feel. You may write a poem or whatever just get it out via writing. Journaling is a powerful tool to express yourself. As you begin to study your bible, research the scriptures on Peace. Acquaint yourself with these scriptures multiple times a day until the realization of these scriptures become more real than your feelings. Read Job 22:21, Psalm 85:8, 10-11, Proverbs 16:7, Philippians 4:7.
2. Surrender, Surrender! – Gratitude is a powerful thing but cannot co-exist in the same space as doubt, fear, and anger so surrender. Realize that your greatest days are ahead of you and you have the power to let go because you have the expectation that God will lead you to victory and provide timely help for all of your needs. Surrender is an admittance that you are aware that you can no longer hold this issue and continue to function in your best form. Surrender is opening yourself up to the possibility that you may have missed it or may not know it all or may have failed in a major way but best believe that help is available and ready to assist you. So surrender.
3. Close the chapter…Close it!– Addictions to relationships create symptoms that linger for days. Once you realize that your issues are not hiding under your bed or in your closet waiting to come out unexpectantly, you will be ready to close the chapter and move on! Once you have acknowledged your issues or sins to God and have asked Him to come into your heart and make the difference in your life, you may not cease from the temptation to commit the issue again, but you do not have to remember each of the ten times that you allowed it to happen. Isaiah 43:18 encourages us to not remember the former things that have taken place in our lives because God is doing a new thing. Since He is into doing new things, allow the chapter in your life that was not so flawless to close and begin anew.
Ready to attract (CATCH)? Ponder on the following:
1. THINK Vision!- When you think a thing you can achieve it! Write your vision for your life and what you seek to attract into your life now that you have released and created space. Clutter can create stuffed places that should be vacant for creativity. The seed of vision will expand your creativity and allow God to speak witty inventions and creative ideas to you.
2. Take the limits off!- Proverbs 18:21 says that death and life are in the power of the tongue so everything that you believe about yourself you create and eventually walk in this manifestation. God is a limitless God and He is able to help you and heal you everywhere you hurt. If you believe that you cannot make it, you are probably right! You can make it with GOD! Allow Him to lead you into the new stages of your life. When we release the things we sometimes believe we cannot live without; those things prove to sometimes be the very things that cluttered our path to delaying the process for what we were destined to have.
God loves you and He wants the very best for you. Open to close, close to open, 2012 will be the Year of Release. While you prepare to release, what will you prepare yourself to catch?
Danita Ogandaga, MSW 