Letting Go of the Rope

As I've been preparing my speech on Romans 8, God has been speaking to me in multiple ways. I'm sure much of this is because my ears are open to anything related to what I'm studying. But it's still comical to me how many different times Romans 8:5-6 has come up in the last few weeks. I mean, I guess it makes perfect sense - I have been asking God to show me exactly what He wants me to share. And, no surprise, He's been teaching me lots of lessons and challenging my faith muscles a LOT lately. 

In life coaching, we talk a lot about "letting go of the rope" in the struggles of life. Every time I say this, I think back to my years at Hope College and their event called The Pull. Picture this: a small river in the middle, a bunch of freshman guys in giant trenches on one side, an equal number of sophomore guys in giant trenches on the other side, and a GIANT rope stretched across & being pulled on for HOURS. The winner is determined by literal inches. Think about how exhausting it is to pull on a giant rope with all your might for hours. The sweat, the bloody hands, the tears, the physical and mental exhaustion. It's intense. Now picture this being exactly what's happening every time you're trying to hold onto control of the challenging circumstances of your life. 

Whew. EXHAUSTING!

What if you just let go of the rope?

I think we think "But letting go of the rope means I let them/that situation win!". 

But what could it also mean? 

• No longer trying to control the person/situation.
• Recognizing that we have ZERO control over anything but our own thoughts/feelings/actions
• Trusting that God's got this!
• Replacing frustration/anxiety/bitterness with peace
• Giving ourselves the freedom to take our focus off of others/that situation, and put it on becoming the best version of US!

What if "letting go of the rope" actually means believing that God is working ALL things out for good?!

YES! He actually is!!! Praise God.

So how do we do this? Well, I've been putting this into practice a lot lately, so let me share what is working for me.

1. Daily Thought Downloads: I try to give myself about 15 extra minutes each morning to write down all the thoughts that are top of mind when I first wake up. Just get those early morning thoughts on paper. No judgment. No editing. Just write them down.

2. False Self/True Self Creation Cycles: Once I finish my thought download, I go back and read through it looking for any false self thoughts or emotions that are showing through. I do a creation cycle on that, working through the thought/feeling/action cycle of that false self version of me. And then I choose a true self creation cycle to replace it with. Ultimately, this is where I'm taking my thoughts captive and choosing better thoughts on purpose.

3. Tapping: this is a new thing I've just started doing, and I think it's giving me amazing transformation in much faster time. Once I've done my false self/true self creation cycles, I then turn those into a prayer and I use tapping to work through them. It's just starting with saying out loud all those false self thoughts/feelings/actions and going through the tapping sequence as I do. I tap through the sequence enough times that all those false self emotions have processed through, and then I keep going with the true self thoughts/feelings/actions. Since emotions have to be processed in the body, tapping is an amazing help in processing those false emotions out. 

4. Thinking that new true self thought over and over and over again, all day long. This is how you transform those false self thought ruts to the new, higher version of us. It's how we rewire our brains. How we create new neural pathways and become someone full of the SPIRIT and not the flesh. 

I'm here to tell you that these four steps are LIFE CHANGING. Literally. 

My thought I've been saying on repeat this week is: "God's working ALL things out for good." This is letting go of the rope on steroids. Just letting go of the rope could imply weakness or giving up. But letting go because we know God's got this? That's incredibly peaceful. And it's us recognizing that God's timing and plan is WAY better than ours. What a relief to know He's here with us in the trenches! And He's offering to take the rope out of our hands and place it into His. We're not letting go of the rope and letting it drop and fall into the river...He's taking it out of our hands and pulling it for us! Wow. Gives me goosebumps.

Want some help working through these steps in your own life? It's what I do with my life coaching clients! I'd love to give you a free coaching consult to see if we'd be a good fit. Just shoot me an email at guidedbygracecoaching@gmail.com and we'll get your consult Zoom scheduled. 

Since becoming more of our true self is becoming more like Jesus, here's a song I love to listen to on repeat when I need a little encouragement. Here's to trusting that God's got it ALL in His hands. Praise Jesus.