By Victoria Osteen
I heard a story about a woman in her mid-thirties who had been in an abusive and tumultuous marriage. Her husband was a heavy drinker, had several affairs, and finally abandoned her and their three young children. The woman had a nursing degree, but she had never worked. Understandably, she had many worries and concerns that were consuming her thought life. She felt overwhelmed by her responsibilities. It was as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. On top of that, she was consumed with feelings of betrayal, anger, and hurt. Some nights, she would stay awake imagining confrontations with her former husband. In her mind, she would play all of the offenses and wrongs that he had committed over and over. She wanted so badly to get even.
This was the most difficult time of her life and the only solace she could find was in her faith in God. One night while praying, she realized that if she ever wanted to get her life back, she would have to let the offenses go. So, to help her do this, she would imagine a large assortment of helium-filled balloons in her hand. Each balloon represented an offense, concern, or worry in her life. Then she pictured herself releasing those helium-filled balloons one at a time and watching them float away. As she would do this, she would almost physically feel each of those offenses, cares, and concerns lifting off of her and as she let go of those cares and concerns she received a fresh portion of God’s strength to face each day. One day at a time she was able to move forward with her life. Today, she is the head nurse at a well-known non-profit clinic. Her children have all gone into the medical profession—two are doctors and one is a nurse. She found her place of peace as she released those balloons and learned to forgive.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean that what the other person did was right or excusable. It doesn’t mean that the incident didn’t matter. It simply means that you are trusting God, and allowing Him to move you past your hurts and pain and into your divine destiny.
Why don’t you release your balloons today? Let go of all offenses and give them to God. You can accomplish so much more when you allow forgiveness to fill your heart. It is then that the door to your heart is open and you make room for God to release His healing in your life.
Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall (Psalm 55:22, NLT).
