How To Put Your Hang Ups, Down

“What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in the ground underneath a giant boulder you can’t move, with no hope of rescue. Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn’t been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, consider how lucky you are that it won’t be troubling you much longer.” Douglas Adams, British Comic Author, 1952-2001

Our well meaning friends and family, the blogosphere – they are all full of one thing.  Advice.  How to have the perfect relationship, how to make this Christmas the best yet, on and on.  Get more money, dress better, be happy, have more meaningful time with God or your children.

It’s all well and good, all this advice. But sometimes life just sucks and we get stuck.  And even when we get unstuck we get left with the debris.  The marks left in our souls of past trauma or catastrophe.  The fear that surfaces whenever certain circumstances present themselves, the memories of a time when all the lights went out.  To combat these fears and to escape the darkness, we often develop a whole battery of defence mechanisms or unhealthy ways of dealing with pain. Our hang ups.

We over think, beat ourselves up with our own words, under love, over eat, worry and obsess.  When I get backed into an old corner I tend to fight like a cornered lion, this is a great if you are actually a lion in a corner, not so great if you are a wife and mother.  It can be loud and rather pointless.  What do you do?

Sometimes we get hung up on people – why doesn’t he or she like me more or behave better?  Other times we get hung up on a problem that we have no hope of fixing.  Most hang ups have to do with things that are completely out of our control.  People who stubbornly refuse to play nice, a career path that is not going where it should, a childhood that was not all chocolate cake and poster paints.

And when we are hung up, we are to one degree or another immobilized, stuck under a boulder that will slowly drain the life out of us.  Imagine how easy it is to see the way ahead from under a boulder.  Your boulder might be stuck right by a beautiful waterfall or a valley full of sweet fruit, but you would never know it.  When we are fixated, pre-occupied or obsessed, it is difficult to see anything let alone the good waiting to present itself around the next corner.

So how do we put our hang ups down, especially when advice seems meaningless and strength fails? What happens when blessing counting won’t move the load. When we would in truth be quite happy to end our days under a boulder?  The next time you get stuck in an old place, hung up, unable to move your immoveable boulder – here is another rock to help you out.

“From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety” Psalm 61 v2

David, the man who wrote these words, was in exile. He was surrounded by powerful enemies whose only intention was to overpower and kill him.  He was hung up, stuck under a mountain of trouble and David knew there was only one way out.  A rock higher than his own.  Instead of trying to move his own rock, David exchanged it for God’s – a rock of safety, a fortress and a shield.

Whatever your hang ups, whenever you find your self stuck, unable to combat your fears or escape the darkness.  Instead of trying to move the load on your own, why not ask God to exchange it for His – His rock of safety, protection and peace.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11 v28, NIV

He believes in you.

Tagged as: David psalm, Encouragement, God, Inspiration, lead me to the rock, living well, love, move on, overcome unhealthy behaviour, put your hang ups down, when life sucks