Open Your Hands

Ever done a clear out and felt bad about all the things you’re throwing away? I have. In fact, there are mixed emotions for me. On one hand I feel bad because it makes me seem like I have too much and I’m not grateful. On the other hand, I’ve formed attachments to my ‘things’ so I feel a tinge of sadness letting them go. I think all of us have experienced these emotions.

Today’s entry is about moving on. There are so many things we can move on from; jobs, old homes, toxic relationships, meaningless friendships, stale routines - whatever. As individuals, we form habits easily and many of them are good habits, but some are bad. Some are toxic and are taking you nowhere positive. If someone looking in objectively from the outside were to suggest that a particular job you were in was toxic, would you believe them? (sometimes, God sends these people, don’t knock them!!). Stick a pin right here. God sends people into our lives all the time for different reasons and seasons. Some come to bring about change in the short term and others are placed to stay with us on our journey of self development and discovery. We must be open to this - and ask God to give you wisdom at every stage, regardless. We’ll become stagnant if we don’t.

However, here is the main point of the blog post today; we become so used to being in these places and spaces that when they become unhealthy for us we don’t even notice, we’re desensitised and are unable to see what is so obvious to others.

If you have accepted substandard treatment and/or options/experiences for a long time, when something greater comes along, you’ll find it challenging to “move on” from the substandard to the greater. You can’t have it both ways, it won’t work. You can’t have your hands open and closed at the same time. You have to strive toward better - believe you are deserving. Open your hands to let go and move on from the toxic, unhealthy, draining, demeaning... Open your hands to receive the blessings God Has to give you. Whilst the Father loves to give us good gifts, He won’t prise our hands open to receive what He wants to give us. He’ll wait patiently until we realise that what He has to give us is infinitely better than what we’re trying to hold on to. Another approach that won’t work? Trying to juggle. At times, we are all so attached to what we have that we end up trying to juggle what we refuse to let go of and the blessing waiting in the wings - how crazy!

I won’t pretend, letting go and moving on is hard - admittedly even of the toxic. Good news, we have help. God is willing to give us the strength and courage to leave behind anything and everything that is not good for us. If we ask Him, He’ll take us through the process and even align circumstances so it will be even easier to let go and move on. The home you were feeling low about selling, it turns out it has too many issues to repair, you have to move anyway. The relationship you are bemoaning, it was only going to go south - God is saving you. That friendship you wish never ended, they’ve been bad mouthing you ever since...you get the point. If we were able to see everything from God’s perspective, we would never complain about letting go and moving on. We’d have a glimpse of the great plans He has for us.

Whilst the grass isn’t always perfectly green on the other side, you deserve better! You can have better!

Step out. Move on. Leave behind the bad, the simply mediocre and open your hands to receive the GREAT!

You’ll be glad you did. Promise.

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead…” Phil 3:13