Release and Let It Go

Isaiah 61:3

“…to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness”

Have you ever had the urge to just yell, I mean scream to the top of your lungs? I don't think I have ever felt like I did today. It wasn't that I was stressed or anything was wrong, but I was in a place where I felt I needed to do just that. I was on my way to my doctor's appointment, and I was listening to this song, and the lady began to sing these words: Jehovah we praise you, Jehovah we praise you, we praise Your name, we praise Your name, Jehovah we praise you.

I kept repeating the song once it was over, and before I knew it, I started singing along with it. I felt God’s presence come into the car. I began to pray as if I were in warfare, giving God praise and thanksgiving. It was as if something inside of me was being released. As I continued to thank God, I began to thank Him for bringing me out of bondage—what felt like a dark place—as I have been battling extreme anxiety through menopause.

Then I heard something say scream. With tears streaming down my face, I did just that, continuing to listen to the song. In that moment, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time—release. When I finally pulled up to my doctor’s office and stopped the car, I heard it again: scream. I did it a couple more times and just began to weep with thanksgiving.

So what does release really mean?

Release is the act of letting go of what has been holding you captive—emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and even physically. It is freedom from pressure, heaviness, and restraint. Release is when God loosens what anxiety tightens, when peace interrupts panic, and when praise breaks chains you didn’t even realize were still there.

Isaiah 61:3 paints a powerful picture of this exchange. God doesn’t just remove the heaviness; He replaces it. Ashes become beauty. Mourning is met with joy. A spirit of heaviness is lifted by a garment of praise. What I experienced in that car was not just emotion—it was a divine exchange. As praise went up, heaviness came off.

For so long, anxiety had gripped me so tightly that it began to affect my everyday life. It is a totally different thing when you don’t understand what is happening in your body and feel as if you have no control. I knew something had to change. I knew I had to do things differently and make necessary adjustments in my life.

So I returned to a posture of fasting and prayer. I quieted myself before God and listened. He gave me a plan—clear direction for what He wanted me to do over the next 45 days. And as I devoted myself back to Him, He met me in an unexpected place: my car, on the way to an appointment, in the middle of a song.

That day reminded me that release doesn’t always come in a sanctuary or at an altar. Sometimes it comes on the road, in tears, in a scream, in a song of praise. When we choose to release what we’ve been carrying and put on the garment of praise, God is faithful to meet us there.

And for that—I am truly grateful.