Letting Go...

So good conquered evil in the end, and it all hinged on one moment, one key decision: Frodo had to let go of the cursed ring and let it be destroyed by fire. He'd made the long and dangerous journey and was standing on a cliff overlooking the only fire strong enough to destroy the ring's power... Sam was yelling for him to drop it, but the longer he looked at it and thought about it, something in him just didn't want to let go. WOW, I felt God speaking to me there. The image applies to any stronghold or addiction, but God was working on a specific one that I keep looking back on, not quite wanting to release it.

YOU CAN'T GO FARTHER UNTIL YOU LET THIS GO. IT IS KILLING YOU AND DRAGGING YOU DOWN, BUT FAR BETTER THINGS ARE WAITING FOR YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE IF YOU WILL SIMPLY RELEASE IT AND TRUST ME. 

"Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up..."

My heart is seeking freedom, yet it remains captive to a broken relationship that I haven't been willing to fully let go of... one that has plagued me and messed with my mind for far too long. I didn't want to let it go and move on because I felt that would be proving this guy right in his stance that God told him to do this.  I also didn't want to be a basket case because I felt that would prove him right in defriending me... I felt that he would "win" either way, and that drove me crazy. And even though it's weakening me and causing nothing but pain, some prideful part of me still feels that letting go equals losing something... I want to claim "my" bitter desire for revenge, and to hold on to this twisted love that has, at times, turned me into someone I truly do not recognize. Which also goes with the movie... it gave me a really clear image to put with it and helped me see how ridiculous it is to hold on to something so poisonous.
And as I watched that scene, in my spirit, I was standing there... at the end of a long journey, at the edge of a dangerous cliff... carrying a heavy burden that I've become quite attached to... feeling the warfare and realizing that this choice matters more than I'd ever thought... knowing that "decision time" has arrived, and what I must do is trust God enough to cast it into the fire without hesitating or pausing to dwell on it one last time........... and let it go.