Unclog Those Drains

Happy Friday, everyone 💛

The last time I posted, it was on the topic of forgiveness and cleaning the bathroom. Welp, guess what?  We’re still on the topic of forgiveness and back in the bathroom.  

About a week ago, I noticed our bathroom sink wasn’t draining properly.  There were some days it would be clogged and other days it would drain perfectly fine.  It kept going back and forth, depending on the day, how long the water was running and if I allowed any hair to get into the sink while ridding my hands of hair gel.  

As I’ve been praying for the Lord to deal with my heart on unforgiveness, it seemed like some days I was past it and flying to the top of a mountain! I felt free, happy and like I was finally on the other side of the issue.  However, there were other days that I would feel so discouraged, angry, and hurt.  I noticed these moments would happen when I would let certain memories run through my mind for too long.  Whenever I sat in those memories of hurt, confusion, anger or sadness, it would make me feel like I was entitled to be unforgiving.  It would truly clog up my spirit, my heart and mind.  I couldn’t understand how one day I was fine and the next day I wasn’t. 

I remember calling my mom, on a Friday to be exact, and I broke down to her.  She let me cry and then she gave me Truth.   The Truth was filled with kindness but there was correction in it. She told me, “Vanessa, stop giving the enemy free access to roam around in your mind.  You have made this situation, the person and your unforgiveness an idol and you don’t even know it.  You’ve lost sight of Jesus by focusing solely on your hurt and what happened in this situation.  You need to put Jesus back in His proper place, forgive and move on.  Take captive every thought.” 

Now some people may think what she said was tough, but it was exactly what I needed to hear.  I was giving the enemy too much power in my mind.  I made the hurt and confusion an idol in my heart because I was trying to make sense of the situation, but in reality I probably never could.  The only thing that I knew would make sense was to keep giving it to Jesus and to not focus on my hurt.  I was allowed to feel my hurt but I did need to move forward without it.  I couldn’t let each memory plague my mind.  I had to make a decision to forgive and move forward in Jesus.  I was spending too much time in unforgiveness, letting it run rampant in my mind and allowing it clog my heart, the same way I was letting the bathroom sink get clogged by letting hair get into the drain and not grabbing it before it went down. 

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  This means we must destroy every lie that comes up against the Word of God and what He says about us.  Not only do we destroy those lies with His Word, but then we must take captive -grab every thought, every lie, every word that is not of God and put it under the authority of Jesus.  Jesus must be in His rightful place!  When He is in His proper place, at the top and the head of everything, we are then able to bring every thought captive under Him.  

It is easy to go back and forth (forgive/unforgive), like the bathroom drain.  However, holding on to unforgiveness clogs us up and keeps us from receiving clean and free-flowing water.  Ask Him for help.  Make a decision to forgive and then move forward.  Feel what you need to, but don’t get clogged up.