Grace for the Writer’s Journey: Untethered

Dear Writer, I hope you had a beautiful week and considered how to tap into the synergy of grace in your life! This week, we’re going to look at one obstacle that keeps us from partnering with God’s grace for us. That obstacle is our tethers to the past.

You see, as we experience life’s ups and downs, we form expectations and opinions of ourselves, others, life, and even of God. Many of these ideas keep us tethered to what’s familiar through fear of disappointment. It’s only as we begin to break those ties that we truly experience the fullness God has for us.

But before we get started, let’s look at some others whose ability to untether from the past launched them into their full potential… 

Untethered in History

Helen Keller is a good example of a woman who was able to untether. When Helen was just 19 months old, she went blind and deaf from an illness. Cut off from life as she knew it, Helen became strong-willed, demanding, and spoiled. However, when Anne Sullivan arrived and opened the world of communication once more, Helen quickly dropped her childish temper and invested learning. Helen was quick to recognize and pour into her potential to become productive.

As a result, not only did Helen learn to read, write, and communicate, she also authored many books and became an advocate for the blind and deaf all across the world.

You see, writer, part of untethering is about releasing what’s familiar so we can fully step into the future God has for us.

Untethered in the Bible 

Rahab is another beautiful example of being untethered. A prostitute in the pagan city of Jericho, Rahab broke ties with her people and culture as soon as she met the Hebrew spies. Instead of reporting them to the king, she hid them and begged for clemency. After Jericho fell, Rahab further untethered herself from her old identity as a prostitute and was happily married to a Hebrew man.

Rahab’s ability to release her old identity and embrace the new not only brought her safety, but placed her squarely in the middle of God’s redemptive line for the Messiah.

You see, writer, being untethered is about a willingness, by God’s grace, not just to release our old identity, but also old hurts and victimhood. Untethering is realizing God is larger than the worst that’s happened to us and can turn anything we surrender to Him around for good.

Untethered in Life 

I was first untehtered when I stepped up to lead my  church community. You see, as you adult fresh out of college, I’d quickly assumed I couldn’t lead anything. I clearly lacked the charisma I’d associated with successful leaders. But, when God clearly called me to lead my 80-member church community—most of whom were at least 20 years my senior—I had a choice to make. Would I trust that God’s opinion of me as a leader was correct, though I’d never done it before? Or would I decide my experience up to that point held more weight?

I am happy to say that I chose to believe God. As I trusted Him to teach me, He fast-tracked my leadership growth through many invaluable lessons. And here’s the thing…

Untethered in Your Life

While untethering is about letting go of the past—past hurts, failures, identities—it’s just as much about willingness to rely on God guidance and strength to move forward into the new. You see, God is ultimately the one who untethers us. But He can only walk us through that process as we cooperate with Him. Let me show you…

• • “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. – Isaiah 43;18-19
  • From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:16-17
  • …assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. – Ephesians 4:21-24
  • Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. – Philippians 2:12-13
  • Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:12-14 

You see, writer, untethering is really a process of becoming anchored in God—in His person, presence, and promises—so that our hold on Him becomes stronger than the hold of the “old” on our lives. And the more we step into the new, the more freedom we experience. And the more of His freedom we’re able to release to others, too.

Where to Start with Getting Untethered 

So are you ready o untether from what’s held you back? Here some things to consider…

1. 1. Know Your Identity. If we truly want to untether from our past, it’s crucial that we get a strong grasp on who we are in Christ and His unique call for our lives. Spend some time prayerfully reviewing and writing down all you currently know about your call and about who God says you are. Ask the Lord to highlight any parts of your identity in Him that you need to pay special attention to. Then…
   2. Know the Word. Once you’ve written down your call and identity in Christ, search out additional scriptures that undergird that truth. Type them up and put them somewhere you can review them daily. I also encourage you to speak these truths out loud to yourself. You see, faith comes by hearing, and the more we hear our mouths agreeing with God, the more our hearts and minds begin to believe it.
   3. Expose Your “Whys.” As you move into the new, notice moments when you are tempted to shrink back into your old identity. Ask God to reveal why. You see, most of our disobedience and delay is rooted in a lie of some kind about ourselves, others, or God. As God reveals the lies behind those weaknesses, it can lead to powerful moments of healing. As God reveal those “why” and lies, I encourage you to…
   4. Replace Lies with Truth. Write down the lies you’ve believed as God reveals them. Then, search out scriptures that speak His directly to those lies, fears, and insecurities. I encourage you to consider taking the top one to three lies you’ve believed, and make a list of scriptures addressing each to pray and speak out daily. Because here’s the thing…

 The process of untethering is really process of learning to align our lives with God truth. As we do this, we begin to shift from our strength and resources to His. As we do, we begin to enter into a freedom we’ve never imagined.

Just as Helen entered a whole new world of communication and influence. Just as Rahab entered into the covenant family line of God’s Son. Just like I entered into the realm of growth and impact I had thought was impossible. But here’s the thing: if you’ll notice, for Helen, Rahab, and me, it was only as we stepped free from the past that we were able to move into the roles of influence God had designed for us.

So, I encourage you today, writer, to prayerfully consider what God may be asking you to untether from. Know that wherever He’s calling, He’s given you a grace to go forward as you lean into Him. And though it may feel frightening at first, as you let Him, He take you from fear to freedom. And the most beautiful thing? When we begin to move in that freedom of His Spirit, He will begin to use us and our words to free others, too.

#untethered #freedom #destiny #EveryWriterWriting