Release That Weight

satan can so easily mess with us, can't he? I mean, he's all about tempting us, hitting us where we're weak and pushing us toward sin. Really, he wants us to miss the plan God has for our lives. But he doesn't need sin to do this. No, he can achieve his goal in another way, too.

Ever fight discouragement? Use the words "I can't" or "Never going to happen"? These can be just as detrimental as sin in our lives--sometimes even more so, because often we can see the sin in our lives and fight it. We're on guard for the temptations satan may throw at us and stand ready to fight them. But defeat? That one can sneak in and weigh us down before we even realize it.

Look at what Hebrews 12:1-2 says:

Photo from here.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith....

I've always read the word weight in relation to the word sin. Even though they are two separate nouns joined by that very nice conjunction "and", I read them as one and the same--but they are not. There's the sin that entangles us, and then the weight that holds us down. Those things in life that seem to drop on our shoulders, push us down in defeat and despair...but God says "Throw them off. Look to me. And run this race!"

We've got to stop carrying that weight. We need to put it on God's capable shoulders. Stop saying, "I can't" because He can!

People! Do you know what that means? What power is alive in you?

He is the God who raised Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:43)

He is the God who made dry bones live again.(Ezekiel 37--totally cool story!)

He is the God who says we can accomplish all things through him. (Philippians 4:13)

He is the God who speaks into existence that which is not. (Romans 4:17)

He is the God who began a good work in you and has every intention of seeing it come to fruition. (Philippians 1:6)

And He is the God who desires to be alive and working in you. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

So stop letting satan weigh you down, gaining a foothold in your mess-ups or your dreams yet unfulfilled. Just because God hasn't said yes yet does not mean He's said no. Don't let the weight of unanswered prayers and dreams push down your shoulders in defeat. God is still at work.

Fix your eyes on Him and keep running the race.

Can I get an AMEN?!