Because There's No Sense in Holding Onto Something Broken

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"Are you half empty?
Why don't you fill up?
There's no sense in holding onto something broken"

Silhouettes by Colony House

 There are many things that have taken up residency in my heart over the last few years.  Memories, doubts, hopes, disappointments, etc. 

Most have overstayed their welcome. Some, like an infestation, have crept into the unknown corners of my psyche to secretly breed havoc. Despite my best efforts, they can't seem to be fully exterminated.  They sneak back into my awareness just when I think I am finally rid of their burden.  Other things are on the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm not ready to let go and have held on with a white-knuckled kung fu grip. I bury myself in their comforts, caught up in longing for their goodness.  

All of these things, though, have a common denominator...

Brokenness. 

Maybe not in their original form per se, as everything has its place.  Challenges arise that grow us,  and people and opportunities come our way that we're grateful for.   

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4, 6
For everything there is a season, a time for every matter under heaven...

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away

James 1:2-4
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Over time, though, they can become fractured pieces that no longer fit.  The "bad" ones weigh me down in a past that I can't change; the "good" ones reach dangerous levels of idolatry.  Maybe you have some things like this in your life...an argument that you can't let go of breaking down a relationship, the loss of someone near and dear, or a temptation that is redirecting your moral compass and prioritizing your own desires over God's.

So what do I do? How do I let go of things that don't have closure? Which battles do I pick? And how do I wait patiently for the dreams of my life in which the final outcome can't occur overnight? Or worse... How do I release the grip on something I want so desperately, though it may not be in the cards for me?

This leads us to...

Goal for 2017 # 3 

Let go of what I can't change
and keep God at the center of what I can

I can't be the only one here. 
So let me ask you...
Are you in?

Jeremiah 29:11-13

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord , plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.