Have you ever felt stuck in your faith? Like you can’t seem to grow any deeper? Stand any stronger? Believe any better? I know I have.
Sometimes I feel like a trapeze artist who’s stuck hanging over the vast expanse in a circus tent, wondering why I can’t fly through the spiritual life with the greatest of ease like so many others seem to.
OK, let me back up. Have you ever watched a circus performer on a flying trapeze? An aerialist stands on a high platform while holding onto a tiny trapeze bar connected to a rope. She jumps off the perch and swings through the air. She swings out once, swings back above the platform, and swings out again.
It is usually during the peak of the third swing when the performer releases the bar mid-air and grabs hold of another bar or second performer swinging toward her. Once she grabs hold, the crowd remembers to breathe. Somersaults, backflips, and triple twists wow the crowd.
And each move requires the performer to let go of one bar and grab hold of another. If she refuses to let go of the first bar after she grabs the second, she’ll be stuck hanging between the two platforms with hands clinging to both bars…stuck. Not the greatest show on earth.
Paul wrote to the Philippians about how to keep moving forward and not get stuck in our faith, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:12, emphasis added).
Another version expresses the verse this way: “I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own” (AMPC).
When we take hold—grasp—and make our own all that Jesus had already taken hold of for us, we begin to experience life to the full—the faith we’ve always longed for. We get unstuck and move forward.
When we grasp and make our own what Jesus has already done for us, and what He has deposited in us, our lives look very different than the tepid faith of the average churchgoer.
I’ve discovered it’s not enough to know the promises of God in my head. I’ve got to take hold of them with all the firmness of the trapeze artist grasping that second bar. At the same time, I’ve let go of anything that holds me back. That is the greatest show on earth. That is how the greatest faith on earth becomes a reality.
God’s promises are not automatic. We must move from knowing the promise, to believing the promise, to taking hold of the promise through obedient action in order to make them a reality in our lives. Let me say that again: know the truth, believe the truth, act on the truth.
God told Joshua about the Promised Land, “I will give you every place where you set your foot” (Josh. 1:3). He and the Israelites had to “set their feet” to conquer the land; to grab hold of the promise that was theirs for the taking. They had to know it, believe it, and act on it.
God’s power, provision, and purposes are for “whosoever will” (Mark 8:34 KJV). Will what? Will let go of all that holds them back and take hold of the promises that move them forward.
And when we learn how to do that, we will get unstuck from a mediocre faith and begin experiencing the bold believing, mountain moving, giant slaying faith that God intended all along.
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to let go, move forward, and live bold!
Lord, I’m tired of being stuck in my faith. I want to take hold of all that You have done for me and placed in me. Help me let go of everything that holds me hostage to a life that’s less than You intended and take hold of a life that’s more than I imaged. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
What is one thing that you are having trouble letting go of that you know God has called you to release? Leave a message and let’s share together.
DIGGING DEEPER
Let’s get unstuck from mediocre faith and take hold of all that God has done for us and put in us! No more spiritual couch potato for me. I’m ready for the mountain moving, giant slaying, bold believing faith that God intended all along! In Take Hold of the Faith You Long For: Let Go, Move Forward, and Live Bold you’ll see how to ignite your faith as never before.
© 2023 by Sharon Jaynes. All rights reserved.
Comments 58
Amen, thank you for this message.
My marriage
Same. I’m in an unhappy and unhealthy marriage that I have held onto for the sake of honoring my promise to God. I have prayed and finally understand that this is not what God had for me in the first place. I pray forgiveness but have filed for a divorce. I’ll say a prayer for you. Please pray for my strength too❤️
I have the same struggle as you, Betty Jo. It’s been since January since my husband left and this year has been a roller coaster ride of emotions for me. I have good days and not so good days. I’m learning to call out to God and just basically walk around the house telling him my feelings. I’ve allowed myself to cry more. Now I do that at LEAST once a day. I’ve been married for 17 years and we are not officially divorced but I know it is more real than I did when he first left. I always was holding onto hope until I met some people and one of them said to me…”sometimes God takes people out of our lives because they aren’t supposed to be there anymore”. I never saw it that way. I still love my husband. This marriage, for me, was “till death do us part”. I do see now that there has been a death and my husband is who made that happen. Every day I just put one foot in front of the other. Some days I don’t get one thing done, other than waking up and a taking a shower. I’m permit myself to grieve. I don’t know your situation, but I hope you find a place where God can help you through. God Bless You, Betty Jo
Poor health , since 2020 it has been affecting every area of my life. I know God is in charge but I don’t have the faith to trust him as so much as gone wrong .
Greif, regret, and the trauma associated with my parents passing its been over 2 years and i cant seem to let it go and move on.
Dear Sharon Jayne I think you are a great writer with insight and revelation. I’m glad I came across your writings which have helped me so much.Sometime I feel God has forsaken me that I even feel hopeless a lot these days I can’t help nobody unless God help me please pray for me that God will help me its a scary thought to be in.thank you…
Letting go of my grandchildren, particularly one granddaughter. The grief and loss are overwhelming, but I am learning to hold grief in one hand and in my right hand ( the one God holds) to hold joy. I am reading my second book by you, Never Less Than, and it has comforted me beyond words to tell you. I am a woman and Jesus is showing me how I hold favor in Him. Thank you Sharon for revealing Him to me and to many others. I pray such rich blessings on you.
“What is one thing that you are having trouble letting go of that you know God has called you to release?” My adult children. Both have had struggles over the last few years – like a lot of young adults these days – and I’ve struggled to trust God with their lives.
Me too Renee
To surrender to the Lord’s Will my brother being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Praying for you and your. Brother
I’m ready to let go, move forward, and live bold!
Thank you for your UPlifting message!
My past trauma. Thank you for this word today.
I want to let go of the past hurts and losses in my life and focus on the present and future and find peace and joy in all that the LORD has in store for me
I want to let go of the past hurts and losses in my life and focus on the present and future and find peace and joy in all that the LORD has in store for me I am looking for joy again in my life
Wonderful inspiration to me!! I am a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ ( for over 20 yrs) but with so much chaos and confusion in this world, it’s sometimes difficult to minister hope to others. We literally see the Bible unfolding before our very eyes…..so Jesus Christ, Our hope of glory is the only true inspiration today. 🙏🏽
As I reach for the second bar, I will my hand to release the first.
Thank you for that illustration, Sharon.
I am in a state of mind that has me filling like my boldness of faith is lost. A kind of countenance redrawal. It’s so hard to pray, read scripture and understand, talk about my feelings. It’s because I was attacked verbally by my Pastor just before taking the stage for a women’s seminar as the key presentor. So, I am thankful your message today and the book I fill will help build back up in me the boldness of Faith I need right now to get back on track. Please keep me in prayer.
Struggling to let go of bad choices my husband has made and the consequences are not just his but mine.
My oldest daughter, who has 3 of my grand babies. She tells me she’s never been loved after I’ve repeatedly told her how much I love her. She says her husband is the only one that’s ever loved her. This has been an ongoing situation since December last year and we went from not speaking to her apologizing and saying she releases me…..but she continues to use my grand babies as a weapon and still has such resentment towards me. I’ve had to let her go and give it to Jesus (which I struggle daily doing this) for my own emotional health. There’s days I cry because I miss her so much and the relationship we had…..she started following an online ministry that is cult like and since she’s not been the same. I pray God opens her eyes and she sees that she doesn’t have to “try” to be a good Christian women…..that Jesus loves her right where she’s at. Birthdays and holidays are coming and I know my whole family won’t be together like we once were. It breaks my heart.
I need to let go of feeling like I’m not parenting well and believing that I don’t have much value and be the loving person God has called me to be.
Amen, move it Father Move me!!!
It’s been just over ten months since my husband died. I attended, with two of my family, a Griefshare program and use their emails daily. I I have maintained friendships, built closer ones with people we both knew. stayed in my church community and continued to lead a small group. I’m praying that once the year is out my focus might change and I will find it easier. Currently, I still miss him so very much in the small, daily things of life.
I thank my FATHER GOD that I saw this message, and read it .It was something I needed to read today.GOD bless and AMEN
I want to let go of how i thought life should be after i quit my job and joined ministry its been hard since i compare alot. I pray that i will fully walk in this path that God has ordained for me.
I want to let go of being hostage in my circumstances. I don’t know how?
I pray God’s shows me the way through His promises and I have bold faith to believe them.., and carry them out….
Thoughts to live by — thank your for inspiring us to be and do better
Thank you for this devotional Sharon. I’ve been stuck in my faith for some time now and didn’t know how to get ‘unstuck’. This is exactly what I needed to hear And once again God has come through for me through you. Bless you!
I am stuck. I’ve been held by past abuse and pain. I stayed in a marriage that was verbally and physical abusive. My spouse decided to get involved in becoming a Jehovah witness and my upbringing my foundation was Pentecostal and my feet stayed planted on the rock of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My family witnessed the bruises and broken teeth, they saw my legs that he beat with a belt no one intervened. I went to my knees time and time again, he knew me, he saw me and he gave me shelter than no one else offered me. I raised my children in church but the devil would act out in my spouse. I could go to my mother and she would pray with me, she would remind me I’m not alone. My mother was in no position to have me and my children live with her but she was always a phone call away to listen and to pray. I was told many times by my pastor you can divorce him my question was how could I make it financially and allow him to take my children to another way of believing in a way that was based on a cult views? So I stayed and I prayed and I’m still standing here today at the age of 70 and tell you we may be stuck but our God is mighty and he is my strength I take refuge under in his promises. We serve a mighty God! He makes way for the weary. Ive been in the valley in his perfect timing he lifts me up. I’m not sharing this saying to live your life like I did. I would never want that for another woman. I’m saying we can get stuck time and time again but our Father in heaven will never leave you. Many will turn their backs on you but your Father is always and I mean always with you. God hears us he doesn’t answer in our time he answers in his perfect timing. Nothing goes past him, he sees it all. Oh how I love him, because he loves me and you. When you are stuck and don’t know which way to go call out Jesus he will hear your cry and he will answer. Thank you Sharon for you words of faith. I hold on to the promises in my faith and the words in my bible.
In Christ,
Anita
Thank you, Anita, for your post. I needed it!
Thanks Anita for sharing. Marriage, even the best ones are hard. God is forever faithful, He promises to carry us through when we trust Him and “let go” of our ideas/pride .
God is calling me to release feeling responsible and trying to control everything. Each day I get closer to completely surrendering my life to God! He has a plan for me that is so much better than I could ever imagine! Thank You God!
Thank you for this message today. I have let go of my past and am moving forward with God as my guide. Believing boldly that He has great things in store for me and my family.
A relationship
Thank you Sharon for this amazing sharing. The image of the trapeze artist really clarifies the letting go of the past moment and coming into the present moment. So often, I get stuck in the past moments of life. God is calling me to live in His present moment so that I can trust Him in all of His promises and grab hold of His everlasting LOVE and Peace.
A nice/nasty relationship!
Addiction
I’ve been on the fence all my life on following Jesus and worldly desires. God has been dealing with me to choose between the two.
I made a bold move yesterday, I pray it was God’s calling me.
I confessed on Facebook my struggles and asked for prayers.
I’m nervous and scared for opening up about my struggles on a public forum.
Now I no longer feel heavy of my burden; I’m more concerned what my Father wants for me than the world.
Sister, you need support for this bold step you have taken. Find a small group of ladies who will covenant to pray for you daily as you walk in this new life! God has wonderful things in store for you, but the enemy will work overtime to steal your newfound joy. Seek fellowship so that you may be surrounded and uplifted by godly sisters! I am lifting you in prayer!
Thank you Sharon, once again for your timely messages. I’m needing to release my oldest adult son who is a drug addict and has been for 38 yrs. He knows the Lord and has been baptized. But he is allowing satan to control his life and not Jesus. He is married and has a beautiful wife and my child ( my precious granddaughter who is 6 and has seen her daddy at his worse). My daughter-inlaw convinced him to go to detox and rehab and is currently there. He feels that Jesus can’t forgive him for all his past sins and mistakes. As his mom, I’ve tried to encourage him over the years and told him to quit listening to satans lies. I’m praying that through this drug rehab program that he will start to believe that he is worthy. In the meantime, I’m trying to let go of that bar ( “Be still and know that I am God”)
and wait to see what God will do!
God bless you all sweet sisters in Christ, I am praying for you!
Debbie L.
Praying for your son. I also have family members addicted to drugs and alcohol that was brought up in church but fell away years ago but we have our promises from God to stand on and His Word does not return to Him void. His name is faithful and true and I will never stop praying for them until they return back to Jesus. God bless you!
This is very difficult but I need to surrender of expectations of other people.
Struggling to pay my rent
I am struggling with letting go of the guilt I have from many past mistakes!
A broken heart
I want to leave my past hurts from my late husband. Its been over 20years and every time I think about what he put me through the pain comes flooding back. I have now realised that I cannot let go on my own.
My high anxiety level has been worsening lately and with these prayers from women of ministry and I have just finished a Bible study online, that is helping me to start praying with my husband! I just need to be grateful for all I have and give everything to God, my Father ! He has the plan for my life! Thank you Sharon! For these Devotions.
My struggle is with my son and step- children. Not letting go and hand it over to God. I want them to be healthy and happy, but they have moved away from God. I pray that they have a relationship and trust with God and are brought back to church.
I struggle with knowing the right decision to make about my marriage. I have endured infidelity, some physical abuse early on and now constant emotional and verbal abuse. He does. It take on the role of head of our home spiritually. I am not perfect and often the enemy makes me lose my cool when my husband is being very harsh and ugly. This is not my first marriage so I want to honor the commitment I made before God but I will be 70 next year and I have already endured 26 years of this unhappiness. God hates divorce but does He want me to live out my days in this situation? I would be happy to spend the last of my time here on this earth worshipping and serving Him, but alone. Yes sometimes we need to put people out of our lives but does that include spouses? This is a decision I am truly struggling with now.
Trying to take care of my parents who are both in hospice care by making sure they are not paying for cares they aren’t receiving, in the facility where they reside..
I am weary of fighting for them, it’s been close to two years,now. Appreciate your message
I feel stuck in a tepid faith. I haven’t always been like this and I miss the joy and excitement of “grabbing the bar.” I go through the motions: church, devotions, christian radio… I want that zeal back of knowing Jesus Christ, and my doubts about the Bible and the church hold me back.
I so need to be further filled with God’s love and His awesome security, for those around me cannot fill me. I forget that others are not here to fill me or help me. I forget to pray and turn things over to the Lord, and my mind is (like I have a gerble running inside a wheel) making up things that don’t matter about others. I know God is my fortress, but I need Him to fix this mind of mine. It doesn’t help when I let people get to me. Father God, by Your Son’s name, please fix my stinking thinking, and help me turn to You as much as possible. Thank You for the outcome, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Loveless marriage
I need open doors to move on
Dealing with alcoholism
Hello,
Thank you again for this powerful words of encouragement Sharon,
This message is so powerful to move in the light of goodness that we have in front of us. LET GO! of anything that is not of any value that hinders, our Godly direction. It is so easy to lose site, if we do not stay in the word of God. We are so valued, loved, and deserve to shine our best selves over any circumstances. We are so Blessed Always!!
Survivors guilt, lack of confidence, insecurities & esp anger/rage that is the residual effect of my trauma
I will try to make this short. I have been a member of a particular Baptist church for over 30 years. I have spent over half my life at this church. Raised my children there. My church family is there.
About a year ago a new pastor was called.
(After looking for 2years) He has come in and changed everything. All of the staff we had has now left. My husband and I have been struggling there for a long time. We finally started visiting new churches. We have found one that I have a great peace being a part of. I’m having a hard time letting go of my other church family. I have loved them a long time. We have had bad times that we held onto each other and made it through. I don’t know how to let go of them. Thank you
Author
WE have changed churches before, but we never did let go of our friends from the previous church. They are still some of our best friends for over 30 years. I’m not sure you need to let go of them. And it will be exciting to find new friends at your new church!