Balloon Release

Yesterday, I happened to look up into the sky while I was driving to see a red, heart-shaped Valentine's Day balloon floating listlessly up into the sky as it's white curly string of a leash followed.  At first, I thought it was sad someone lost their balloon, but then I thought about the  balloon I have in my bedroom.  It is scrunched up against the ceiling with nowhere to go but still pressed tightly against that white plaster in hopes of escape.

The verse in Matthew came to mind that says if we find our life (or cling to it), we will lose it, but if we give up our lives for Christ's sake, we will find it.  That balloon symbolizes freedom.  It made me feel at peace to witness it's flight after it was let go.  The balloon in my room will never know what it's like to make a carefree flight into the sky.  If I leave it there, it will eventually deflate, pop and be thrown away.

I wonder what I am clinging to that needs to be released.  What have I held so close that has never been let go into the wide expanse God has created?  Am I suffocating true life by coveting relationships, my right to myself, external sources that fill my needs or security?   I pray God shows me what strings I have a grasp on that I shouldn't so that I don't end up with a room full of dead balloons.  What is never released to him, never has a chance to grow, live and thrive where he intended.