BY JESSICA LANDMON
The Holy Spirit has given me a specific word for 2023 – one that I believe is for many of you. I hear the Holy Spirit say that this is the year to become “untethered” – a year to be released from the things that hold you captive and prevent you from walking into your destiny. To become untethered, however, you must be willing to let go of the past. God wants to free you, but you must lay some things down.
Those things might look different for each of us. For some, it might be letting go of an unhealthy relationship, one that you know in your spirit doesn’t honor God or isn’t God’s perfect will for your life. For others, you might need to let go of failures that cripple you from moving forward and trying again. Some of you may need to untether yourselves from negative thought patterns – patterns of thinking that lie, deceive, and manipulate you into believing all the untruths that the enemy whispers in your ear. Even further, some of you may simply have to let go of old ways of doing things or postures of thinking.
Untethering oneself is a healthy and necessary step to move forward. A boat can’t get to its destination if it is still tied to the dock. Why would we expect to have a different result?
For those of you who don’t know, I have an 11-pound Goldendoodle, and one of her favorite things to do, like many dogs, is play fetch. She gets so excited when I throw her ball out in the yard. Those little legs of hers just move so fast as she can’t wait to retrieve the ball. She’s fantastic at getting it and bringing it back. But, letting go of it is always a huge ordeal. She clenches it in her teeth so tightly, yet at the same time, she looks at me like why am I not throwing it again. I try to pull it out of her mouth, and we end up in a tug-of-war. After a few minutes of this charade, she finally drops it only to quickly pick it back up. At this point, she is getting angry at me because I haven’t thrown the ball again.
Do you see where I am going with this? Ladies, I’m sorry to tell you, but some of you behave just like my dog. God is trying His hardest to propel you into your future, but you refuse to let go of some things currently in your life.
God has big plans for His people this year, but we can’t allow the things of the past to hold us back. We must untether ourselves and launch forward into 2023, full of faith and with great expectancy. Ladies, 2022 and all its failures are behind us. It’s time to let go. It’s time to learn to live untethered.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:12-14