There aren’t any physical restraints.
Nobody slipped on a straight jacket while you slept.
There aren’t any visible barriers.
Nobody built a wall around your heart when you weren’t looking.
Yet the inner struggle to remain silent or share your burdens grows day by day, sometimes moment by moment.
Until. You want. To explode.
The Sons of Korah knew those feelings.
“My soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.”
“I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief.”
“From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death.” Psalm 88:3,8,15 NIV1984
You sense that the longer you struggle the more the wounds fester. The dynamic resembles that dab of leftovers in a container in the fridge.
It was innocuous when it went in there, but the longer it sits the more rancid and fetid it becomes.
Personal baggage is not that easy to manage.
Confronting your burdens is the first step toward relief. Sharing them with a trusted friend can neutralize the fear they generate and promote resolution.
What’s holdin’ you back?
Maybe you don’t feel worthy to ask for attention.
Maybe you’ve been let down by one friend after another.
Maybe the pain of your burdens makes them too difficult to contemplate.
Maybe your hesitation at disclosure is reasonable given the details or impact it would generate in your own life or the lives of others.
Maybe it’s impossible to consider that such honest communication could accomplish anything other than finalize your imprisonment.
Thankfully the One who made you values you enough to call you to Himself. Matthew 11:28-29 NIV1984
Thankfully there is One who chose you as His friend who has arranged for the Almighty to deliver whatever you ask for in His Name. John 15:15-16 NIV1984
Thankfully there’s One who grants you all the courage and strength, love and self-discipline you’ll ever need to overcome any struggle. 2 Timothy 1:7 NIV1984
Thankfully the One who called you responds to your pleas with righteousness and prepares the way before you with good. Psalm 85:9-13 NIV1984
So … I ask again.
What’s holdin’ you back?
Don’t wait. Make time. Serious time.
Enter heaven’s inner courts with humility and expectation.
The Holy One will hear and He will answer you. Psalm 91:14-16 NIV1984
I’ll be there right beside you.
Let me know how I can pray for you.
🙂 Love this!