“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” Isaiah 61:13.

Have you ever been in a season where you feel as though the weight of the world is resting on your tired shoulders? Do you have a heaviness upon you that can’t be shaken and a haze causing you to question where God is in it all? My friend, this spiritual heaviness you are feeling is real and can become allconsuming if we allow it. Do you recall when Jesus asked Peter to step out of the boat and walk on water? Peter saw Jesus through the fog and began his miraculous trek one step at a time, but then when he felt himself become overwhelmed, he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink below the water. I recently asked one of my spiritual mentors if it was possible to feel the depths of despair and the peaks of joy all in the same moment in time.

I believe many of us unknowingly tither between the sadness of this fallen world and the awe-inspiring goodness of our God so often. I myself had to ride the rollercoaster of life this week as I celebrated the success of one dream and the ugliness of humankind all within the same breath. In that moment of high and low I had to decide as to which circumstance would determine the remainder of my day and week. Would I allow the enemy’s tactics to take hold of me and create a spirit of heaviness over myself and my household or would I put on my garment of praise and celebrate the victory above it all? I wish I could say I immediately put on worship music and began my praise dance, but I am human. I allowed (yes, I said it) the spirit of heaviness to set over me like a fog that could not be lifted – a dark fog that settled in every thought and every place of happiness. Are you living with that same fog? I want to assure you that YOU have the power to step out of that darkness and into the clarity of Christ today! Maybe you can’t exactly pinpoint what caused this heaviness, that it okay. Today you have the authority to lift this spirit from your life simply by putting your focus back on the One who clears your every path. Let us lift our eyes from the storm (illness, hurt feelings, sadness, anger, addiction and pain) around us and start focusing on Jesus who is calling us from the dense fog.

When you praise God for all He has already done and even for the things yet to come you are forcing that heaviness to break free and become a little lighter one prayer, song and knee at a time. I wish I could tell you that heaviness will never knock on the door of your home, but even as Christians we are not exempt from the darkness that roams. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [a]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12. It is time that you hop out of the unstable boat during this storm and look ahead – our Rescue has His hand outstretched ready and able to pull you from this heaviness that surrounds you today.

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Matthew 14:31.

Blessings, Kayla