Release

Release

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

AH, COFFEE. It is one of my favorite things. I love it all: the sound of it brewing, the smell of it wafting through my house, the warmth on my hands as hot liquid transfers through my beloved mug. And, of course, the jolt of energy the caffeine provides.

But lately, I’ve found myself edgy and slightly anxious, fretting about circumstances beyond my control with far more frequency than is my norm. And when those fretful thoughts began repeatedly creeping into my conversations, I realized my thoughts were aligning with behaviors and customs of the world rather than God’s. But what to do? How could I stop the spiral, release the malaise that had been slowly enveloping me of late?

When Kate mentioned that she’d quit caffeine, I had my answer. Her words immediately resonated deep within me. And so I did too. I quit coffee—my almost exclusive source of caffeine, cold turkey—not because that’s the best way, but because it felt like I was being asked to immediately release it, not wean off it. It had become bad for me, especially these past few weeks and months.

There is nothing quite like releasing a crutch to make you realize how heavily you’d leaned upon it. My temporary break from coffee is just that—a season in which I release something I’d begun to cling to a bit too much, causing my already slightly jittery thoughts to rev up rather than calm them down.

It’s different for all of us. God may be asking us to release things that are always bad for us, or things that are maybe just bad for us right now. He wants us transformed, not trapped. And if something is starting to trap us, he is going to ask us to release it.

Lord, help us discern what things might be trapping us, keeping us from the best you have for us. Help us to release those things, trusting you have something better. Amen.

-Julie

One Good Step: What crutch might you need to release —whether it be for a season or forever? Find an accountability partner and make a plan for letting it go if quitting cold turkey isn’t feasible.