Stop Digging

This is something that I have struggled with a while, and recently I have been receiving and hearing things that have pointed me to “stop”. To stop rehearsing things I feel badly about, especially when it is an urge to feel guilty about something small or silly. I know that I’ve been redeemed and that everything about me reflects that truth.

I felt like I was supposed to write about this, this morning, but I lost track of time. I also feel like this is as much for me as it might be for anyone who faces this, too. I sometimes feel like I have to go back and think about everything that goes through my head. Whether or not I mean it, whether or not it’s something I need to fix. Whether or not I am being receptive to whatever it is the Holy Spirit is telling me.

And the image I saw, was that I was just digging up things that aren’t mine to dig up. Jesus buried all of it there, and I don’t have to sort through it all — not ever. That I can’t invite every fear or worry over guilt, over shame, that might feel easy to fall into. All I’m doing is digging up things that are dead and gone; fears, wounds that have already been healed, things I have already let go of — insecurities. There’s no shame, but there’s only one thing that accomplishes: it cages you. Traps you in a cycle that we have so much more strength over.

I’ve been ensuring that all I focus on is the Person who deserves all of it. This image really struck me when I was reading out of the Psalms in my One-Year. This Psalm is pretty much a long recap, a song about Israel’s history and how, regardless of their mess, God was patient with them, and only ever wanted them to turn back.

The Psalm talks about how God gathered His scattered people from every direction. Whether they were wandering, along and hungry; whether they had chosen to be chained and stuck in the dark places they were in; whether they were facing death; even if they were surrounded by overwhelming storms — God heard them and took it all away.

He brought them food and plenty, broke their chains, silenced the waves.

The reading ends with this line (this is from Psalm 107:1– 43). After all these good things God did, this is the prescription:

“Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.”

That’s it. Stop digging, and remember all the loving deeds of the Lord — He buried it for you. No more of that; don’t feel bad, just take a breath, drop the shovel, and walk away.