Day Three
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”
Isaiah 61:1-3
I have struggled with my weight all my life, I was the little chubby girl who was always the last one to come in while testing on the mile run in PE. I was very active in dance, taking 2-5 classes a week and yet still struggled. I love food! I would catch myself putting things in my mouth when I wasn’t even hungry, without even thinking about it. I was a prisoner to my pantry. After having three kids and gaining lots of ‘baby’ weight, I was tired of being unhealthy and overweight. It was time to exercise some self control because my eating habits were so out of control. So, if you’re anything like me, you started the challenge because you were in need of a positive change. Whether your health was in good condition or bad, you were in need of something more. I am so thankful that God loves us where we’re at but continues to call us in to something more. We are never fully done until we are called home to be with Jesus.
Taking a look at your past, do you feel that you’ve moved on into something greater or are you haunted by memories that imprison you with brokenness, bitterness and regret? Wherever you’re at, God is calling you into something more. He wants you to live an abundant life, right? An abundant life is not stagnant one, it is constantly moving forward. Imagine a treadmill, you have to keep walking or that conveyor belt will launch you off the end, right? Our Christian walk is just the same, if we are not moving forward with the Lord, stop diving into his word and drawing close to him- we will go with the natural flow and start moving backwards. If we’re not careful and don’t start walking again, we’ll find ourselves launched off that treadmill into sin. Luckily, God knew that’s how it would work, so he provided a way. Today’s verse states that Jesus came to “comfort the brokenhearted, proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed; to give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning and festive praise instead of despair.” This tells me that God does not want us to stay where we are, to be imprisoned to the pain of our past. He has so much more in store for us. He wants us to be comforted, released, freed, crowned with beauty, blessed with joy and full of festive praise. I don’t know about you, but for me, this sounds wonderful! This is the path that I feel I am on, releasing the past pain into the only arms that can do anything about it and then moving forward into the abundantly blessed life God is calling me into. He’s taking the ashes of old eating habits and using them for something beautiful, leading my family in the 24 Day Challenge and writing this devotional to share with others. This may not seem like a great accomplishment to you, but for me, this is HUGE. This has been such a burden in my life and Jesus is expressing these words to me; “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”(Matt. 29-30) He knows your heart, too, he knows what is holding you back and what is weighing you down. The question is, do you? What “yoke” is it that you need to release in order to find rest for your soul? My prayer for you is that through the rest of your challenge and this devotion is that you would be able to identify what it is that is imprisoning you, that you would release it into God’s capable hands and that in turn, God would free you from it and give you rest for your soul.
Today’s Exercise: Walking Forward
Something I learned from a very wise Christian counselor is that walking can be very therapeutic. There is something about the movement between both sides of the body, mixed with remembering things from your past that moves you through difficult memories and past pains. So, today, go for a walk with God. Ask him what is holding you back and what you need to do to move forward. Thank him for how far you’ve come, for all the ways he’s freed you. Thank him for where you are now and for where he is taking you.