Look Out For Hotspots..

I was praying for a friend one morning, when a particular scripture verse came to mind - 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). I decided to share the verse with her, and to my surprise, she shared that she had picked up a book - Becoming a Woman of Freedom - with that verse as the heading! She’d forgotten all about the book, until that morning. Coincidence? I think not!

Over the next few days, I continued meditating on the verse; quoting it throughout the day, and hiding it in my heart. Then one morning, I was reminded of the book my friend mentioned, and felt led to use it (along with the scripture verse) for one month during my prayer time. I’ve heard this verse used as the main text for many Sunday sermons; however, I believed it would be different now. I believed my eyes would finally be opened to my old nature and why it was difficult to lay aside the weights that continuously tripped me up. Anger, bitterness, resentment - it was time to lay them to rest!

As I began reading the book, it started revealing the dark and ugly side of me I didn't want to face, but thankfully, it helped me see things much clearer and understand the root causes of my behaviours. I knew there were areas in my life that were damaged, and I believed this verse would reveal the weights and sins I needed to lay aside. I knew this was the beginning of freedom. I started off by writing the verse in my journal each morning, and waited with expectation to hear what God was going to reveal to me. I longed to discover what weights I carried, and most importantly, why. As I searched the scriptures, read the chapters and completed the morning’s assignments, there was alway something new to discover; always something I didn’t see the day before. The Lord began revealing what was happening in my life and why I wasn’t experiencing freedom in certain areas.

As I started praying that morning, I was reminded of how certain attitudes and behaviours displayed by mature Christian left me in disbelief. I realised I was carrying their sins and shortcomings, and had forgotten that Christ died for their sins, too. As I knelt before the Lord - in what seemed to be a vision - I saw myself in a helicopter overlooking a vast ocean. God I’m letting go of their shortcomings, I prayed. Forgive me for the years I held on to their sins. Forgive me for the times I intentionally reminded them of what they did. Just as I said, God, I’m letting it go, I heard in my spirit, “yes, let it go in the Sea of Forgetfulness”. Weight number one, laid aside. It felt freeing to let go. I felt lighter. Shortly after, I heard the Lord whisper, “look out for the hotspots.” Hotspots? I didn't understand at first, but then it became clear; although firemen extinguish fires, there’s potential for hotspots where the fire can restart at any moment. There were moments when I was blindsided by the hotspots, and just when I thought things were good, I flared up by the slightest comment and caused tension within my relationships. So like the fireman, I must completely soak that area in prayer and get rid of everything. I can’t leave anything to smoulder.

As I continued reading the book, I came across this quote from Oswald Chambers, “The first thing to do when examining the power that dominates me is to take hold of the unwelcome fact that I am responsible for being thus dominated.” When laying aside every weight, I must be involved in the “What.” What has caused this weight? What steps do I need to take to lay it to rest? I can’t expect weights to be laid to rest on their own, I must make the effort to look deep and hard within to discover the root cause of my anger. I was determined to do whatever God’s word said in order to experience freedom. That morning, the Lord reminded me that in order to live in continuous freedom, I must remain in prayer and in His Word. He also reminded me that I should make allowance for other people’s faults. Knowing that I had the tendency to remember and remind others of their shortcomings, I truly believed this was something He wanted me to let go of permanently.

As William Gurnall said, “The flesh is to you as the horse is to the rider, you cannot go on your journey without it.” I was somewhat encouraged to discover that laying aside the deeds of the flesh is a continuous effort. As Gurnall says, we cannot go on our journey without it. We will always have to deal with the flesh until we finish the race.

The question is, what is weighing you down? What sin is besetting you? What weight has burdened you to the point where it’s hard to run your race? The amazing thing is, as I look back, the things that were getting me easily upset, were things I could have stopped. Things I had the power through Christ to let go of, but for selfish reasons, I didn’t. Trust me, whether you are a follower of Christ or not, you can practise this. As we have entered into a new year, I encourage you to take a census of your life, and ask God to reveal any weights or besetting sin you ought to lay at His feet. Please don’t carry the same weight of your past into this new year, choose to lay it aside. Take a few moments, and look at the things that are so easily upsetting you, especially if it has to do with your family members or co-workers. If you can, have a conversation with them, but if you can’t, make a conscious effort to do life differently for your spiritual, physical, mental and relational health. Remember this, we cannot change the past, but we can deal with it honestly in order to truly lay the weights aside and have a brighter future.

I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a healthy 2023. Thank you for coming along with me on my Truthful Journey. By God’s grace, I’m looking forward to continuing to share parts of my walk with you, in hopes of helping you do life differently.

Blessings.