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Send us a text Ever feel like you're running a marathon with weights strapped to your ankles? That's exactly what carrying spiritual dead weight does to your purpose and calling. After experiencing a challenging season of health struggles, engagement, and spiritual recalibration, I discovered something profound: God was using these trials to expose the things I'd been carrying that He never asked me to bear. My old thinking patterns, fear responses, and performance-driven mindset were preven...
Facing trauma is a challenging journey, but I share my story with the hope that it might inspire you to gather the strength to take a step toward progress. Remember, with the presence of Christ, there are no limits to what you can conquer.
Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome
back to another episode of the
Well, where I'm your host, drew
Gabrielle, and today's episode
is titled Drop the Dead Weight.
Before we dive deep into this,
I want to take a moment to pray,
and as I'm praying, I want you
to reflect and I want you to
begin to ask yourself am I
afraid to let the things that
I'm carrying go?
Am I carrying things that are
too heavy?
Father, I thank you for every
person that is under the sound
of my voice.
I thank you, oh God, that your
word brings clarity and healing
and direction.
I thank you that your word
brings deliverance and freedom.
Jesus, I ask for revelation
today, father, show us what
we've been carrying that you've
never meant for us to carry.
Help us, oh God, to identify
the weight and give us the
courage to lay it down In Jesus'
name, amen.
So I want to talk to you guys a
little bit about where I've
been, because I know that it's
been a minute since I posted an
episode, and I have gone through
a valley and I'm learning that
oftentimes, when we are not in
alignment with the Lord and
we're not seeking him the way
that we probably should when it
comes to our calling, he will
sit us down, and I say that in
full transparency and humility.
I was humbled by the Lord and
there were a lot of lessons that
he was trying to instill in me
that I was just missing because
I was so wrapped up in
performance and trying to make
things work for this podcast,
instead of doing it the way that
God had called me to do it, I
got caught up in comparison,
which is literally a thief of
joy.
It is a cancer that will steal
your purpose if you let it, and
I had to be real with myself and
I had to be real with God about
how I was feeling, and my life
took a shift.
I got engaged and so many
things happened and, yeah, it
was a valley.
I also experienced some pretty
heavy health challenges, which
was a really big burden.
But through all of this, what I
came to discover is that God was
allowing certain things to
happen in my life, not to burden
me in this negative way, but
more so to show me where my
faith level was when it came to
my relationship with him, and it
was a lot like my nervous
system felt very dysregulated.
Everything felt like it was
shutting down all at once, but
through this, I started to
realize that I wasn't just
fighting physically, but I was
carrying things spiritually and
mentally that God never asked me
to carry.
And so God began to reveal to
me that what I was experiencing
wasn't just about my physical
health, but it was also about
him using that time to expose
the dead weight that I had been
holding onto internally.
And for me, that dead weight
wasn't something that could be
seen on the outside right.
It was my thinking patterns.
It was the way that I processed
fear, the way that I processed
change, the way I associated
rest with laziness, the way I
felt like I had to always
perform to be accepted or to be
worthy.
And what God was trying to
reveal to me was hey, you're in
a new space in your life and
this can't go with you where I'm
taking you.
And as he was speaking all of
this over me, I was reminded of
something that Jesus said in
Luke, chapter five.
It's verse 37 through 38.
It says and no one pours new
wine into old wine skins,
otherwise the new wine will
burst the skins, the wine will
run out and the wine skins will
be ruined.
No new wine must be poured into
new wine skins.
I want you to really let that
sink in.
You cannot take something new
and try to make it fit into
something old.
God was trying to pour
something fresh into me this new
perspective, this new
assignment, a new level of peace
, but my old mindset couldn't
handle it.
My old way of thinking would
have cracked literally under the
pressure of what he was trying
to do in my life.
And so this podcast is for those
of you who may be feeling that
way today.
You're asking God to do a new
thing in your life, but you're
still trying to fit it into an
old container.
Maybe that container is old
habits, old labels, old trauma,
old cycles of fear and control,
and what you have to understand
is that God is not pouring
anything new into something you
refuse to let him make new.
And so when you begin to
understand this and this becomes
real for you, this becomes
truth for you, things begin to
shift, and what I had to realize
is that, yes, dead weight can
look like comfort, but it's
really bondage.
And unless I made room for the
new thing that God was trying to
do in my life, I was just going
to continue sabotaging the very
thing that I had been praying
for.
And so I want to get into what
dead weight actually is.
There's a scripture in Hebrews,
chapter 12, starting at verse
one, it says let us throw off
everything that hinders and the
sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance
the race marked out for us.
I want you to notice that it
says everything that hinders and
the sin.
So Paul is talking about two
different things here, and what
this means is that not all
weight is sin, but anything
that's slowing you down is a
burden.
And you know, when I started to
study this, it was really God,
because I was sitting at a table
and I was trying to come up
with a podcast episode and I
wanted to go one direction, but
I kept hearing the Lord say
throw off every dead weight,
throw off every dead weight,
throw off every dead weight.
And I was like I feel like this
is a scripture, but I couldn't
quite remember where it was in
the words.
So I ended up Googling it and I
read the scripture and I
realized that the Bible doesn't
say dead weight, it just says
weight.
And so I began asking the Lord
like what do you mean by dead
weight, lord?
Because I'm hearing you say
dead weight isn't just a
distraction, but it's anything
in your life that no longer
carries life.
It's expired, it's stagnant,
it's pulling you backward
instead of propelling you
forward.
It served a season, but that
season is over.
But I also want you to know
that not all weight is bad
weight right.
There is some weight that
builds us, it stretches us, it
strengthens our spiritual
muscles, and I guess we can just
describe this kind of weight as
living weight.
I want you to think about James
, chapter one, verse two through
four.
It says consider it pure joy
whenever you face trials of many
kinds, because you know that
the testing of your faith
produces perseverance.
So this living weight is the
kind of burden that grows you
like responsibility, stewardship
, god-ordained trials that
produce endurance.
But dead weight is anything
that's draining you without
purpose.
It's anything that's keeping
you stuck or making you bitter
instead of better.
And the problem that many of us
are having is that we are
holding on to what's already
dead, hoping that it'll come
back to life.
We keep trying to revive what
God has already buried.
Whether it's distractions,
right, these can be types of
dead weight that we carry time
wasters, obsessive scrolling,
unhealthy routines.
Maybe it's unhealed wounds of
bitterness, unforgiveness, pain
we've nurtured instead of
surrendered.
Maybe it's fear and doubt,
constant hesitation when it
comes to stepping into what God
has called us to do.
Or maybe it's toxic
relationships, people who keep
pulling us away from our purpose
.
Maybe it's comfort zones we
stay because it's familiar, not
because it's fruitful.
Or maybe it's religious
mindsets, legalism, where we
trade intimacy with God for
rules and rituals.
Or could it be old identities
still living under labels from
past mistakes or outdated
seasons.
Hebrews 12 compares life to a
race, and you cannot run a race
with endurance while dragging a
boulder.
I want you to imagine trying to
sprint with weights trapped to
your body.
You'll probably end up
exhausted.
You'd probably run a lot slower
, end up frustrated and most
likely give up.
That's what carrying dead
weight feels like spiritually.
And notice how Paul never says
pray and ask God to throw the
weight off for you, not to say
you can't pray that or that you
shouldn't.
However, he says throw it off
yourself.
He tells us to do that, meaning
we have to be active
participants in what God is
calling us to do.
That is our responsibility as
children of God, because Jesus
has already made the way for
freedom.
It's our job to drop what he
didn't assign, because he's not
going to rip it off of you.
He's going to wait for you to
surrender it.
Dead weight only stays because
we choose to hold it, and we can
find biblical examples of dead
weight in the word Genesis 19,
26, lot's wife.
She looked back at what God
called her out of, and in doing
so, she was destroyed.
Luke 9, 60, where Jesus said
let the dead bury their own dead
, meaning not everything from
your past needs your attention
or your attachment.
The Israelites in Numbers,
chapter 11,.
They were free physically, but
they were mentally enslaved.
They kept longing for Egypt, a
place God had delivered from
them.
And so, if you haven't caught
the pattern yet, let me help you
.
Looking back will always cost
you something forward, and so we
have to be able to remove this
dead weight.
We have to throw this dead
weight off of us, and we do it
by, number one, recognizing
what's holding us back.
Ask yourself what's slowing me
down?
What thoughts or patterns or
people are keeping me from
growth?
People are keeping me from
growth.
And then you have to make a
choice.
Number two to surrender it,
because letting go is a decision
.
God is not going to force your
hand.
And once it's surrendered.
Number three, we have to renew
our mind with truth.
We have to replace lies with
the word of God declaring over
ourself John 8, 36, whom the sun
sets free is free.
Indeed, second Corinthians, 12,
verse nine God's power is made
perfect in my weakness.
And then, after renewing our
mind with truth, we have to
number four take action by
physically removing it.
So if social media drains you,
you need to take a break.
If a relationship is toxic, you
need to set boundaries or walk
away from it.
If fear is paralyzing you, you
need to do it afraid.
And then you've got to surround
yourself number five with
encouragement.
You have to find people who
sharpen you, people who help you
stay focused and faithful in
this race, and really quick.
Before I close out this episode,
I want to point out that
Hebrews 12 doesn't stop at verse
1.
Verses 2 and 3 are just as
powerful because they shift our
focus to why we keep going, who
we're following and how we find
strength.
It says fixing our eyes on
Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter
of our faith, for the joy set
before him.
He endured the cross, scorning
its shame, and sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.
Here's the key verse Consider
him who endured such opposition
from sinners, so that you will
not grow weary and lose heart.
Let that settle in your spirit
for a second.
It says consider him so that
you will not grow weary and lose
heart.
What's he saying?
You're not enduring life alone.
When the weight feels
overwhelming or when you're
feeling tired, discouraged or
tempted to go back to what's
familiar, consider Jesus.
Remember Jesus because he
carried the heaviest burden of
all.
He endured suffering, he
endured rejection, he endured
shame, and he did it for the joy
set before him you.
He did it for you.
So when you're tempted to give
up, consider him.
Let his endurance strengthen
your endurance.
Let his suffering remind you
that you do have a savior who
understands.
That's what keeps us from not
only growing weary, but it keeps
us also from losing heart.
We're now at the end of the
episode and I want you to
remember that the weight that
you drop today is going to try
to come back tomorrow.
The enemy will whisper.
Pick it back up.
You need it.
You're not ready to let go.
You're not ready to let go, but
you have authority and you have
a choice.
Your new daily declaration is I
will not carry what God never
told me to carry.
Father, I thank you for clarity
that you've given today.
I thank you for opening our
eyes to what's been draining us.
Father, help us to let go of
the things that you've never
asked us to carry and give us
the boldness, father, to release
what's familiar but no longer
fruitful.
Jesus, teach us to walk lightly
, teach us to run freely and to
trust you fully In Jesus' name,
amen.
If this episode spoke to you,
share it with someone else who
needs to hear it.
Send me a text because I'd love
to hear your testimony, or pray
with you, and let's be sure to
run this race with endurance.
No more dead weight.
Bye, guys.