Letting Go of My Weights

I read a story recently about the army of Alexander the Great.  His troops had experienced one victory after another.....but they had become so weighted down with plunder from those victories, that they were in danger of losing their ability to keep fighting effectively.  Alexander directed that the spoils be thrown into a heap and burned!!!  You can imagine that there was much complaining.  But it was effective.  Without the weight they had been carrying, they went on to victory after victory.  "It was as if wings had been given to them."

This story reminded me of how important it is to not let "things of this world" weigh me down.  I must continually give any weight I carry to the Lord.  It's a daily process.  As I do this, He will lift the burdens from my heart and help me persevere and endure.  I'm so grateful for His help in keeping my spirit light!

"Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."  Hebrews 12:1

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."  James 1:2,3

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."  Philippians 4:8

"Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith."  1 Peter 5:8,9

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."  Zephaniah 3:17

As I've been writing this, I've been thinking of all the "weights" the Lord has taken from me these last 8 years.  I would not have been able to keep going if the Lord hadn't carried the heavy weights.  He has been so faithful!  I am grateful for His loving care.  I am still standing, and able to face whatever is still ahead because of His goodness in helping me on this long journey!

A family member recently sent me some very old family photos.  Some were of my mother as a young woman.  Her husband died in surgery, and she was left with 4 children to raise on her own.  A few months later her father, who she was very close to, died.  She had a hard life!  I've always admired her walk with the Lord and her depth of prayer.  I think it was born out of her difficult situations.  It's no wonder she prayed a lot - she had to to keep going!

When she married my dad and I came along, I grew up watching my mother turn to the Lord time and time again in hard times.  I observed her faith and her prayer life.  She "mentored" me by her example.  When I've faced difficult times, I've known what to do because I saw how my mother had responded when faced with tragedy, financial challenges, family struggles.  I saw how God helped her and met her needs time and time again.

I read a poem recently:

"Sow a thought, and you reap an act;

Sow an act, and you reap a habit;

Sow a habit, and you reap a character;

Sow a character, and you reap a destiny."

Our responses in the simple, everyday events of our lives shape us into who we are - and who we will be as life goes on.  It's not just one big forever choice....it's many, many choices along the way.

I look back over my life and see how God was shaping and forming me from my early childhood on.  Without that forming in my life, I don't think I could have withstood the recent difficult years.  He prepared me for my "destiny.” 

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."  Psalm 139:14

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."  Jeremiah 1:5

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."  Ephesians 2:10

"But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand."  Isaiah 64:8

"Know that the Lord, He is God!  It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture."  Psalm 100:3

"Character is formed by making choices in one direction."  I am so grateful for God's hand on my life in helping me make choices towards Him.  He has lovingly prepared me for the things I have faced.  I could not have made it without His guiding hand.  He is so faithful!