‘Don’t cry over spilled milk,’ says the old adage. ‘What’s done is done,’ we say. Is it true? Is there no hope in the past? I believe Scripture tells us differently.
The lens of faith transforms the darkest images.
In Joel chapter 2, verse 21 we read “the LORD will do great things.” Joel continues in verse 25 with:
“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten,
the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.”
There is nothing in our past that God has not allowed. It may not have been what He longed for us to have…sin and its consequences are never His desire…but He allows anything that can draw us closer to Him. The call of God is always “Where are you?” because the desire of God is always that we will choose to be where He is! Time does not confine God. He was, is and always will be. Taking the time to find Him in the hurts of the past brings healing to the present.
Nothing that happens—past, present or future—is devoid of the presence of God. When we purpose to look for Him in the difficult things of our lives, we find healing! Fear traps us in the traumas of life…faith frees us. God promises we are never alone. He is always faithful to His promises.
Living in the hurts of the past effectively nullifies the work of the Cross in today.
When we allow Jesus to walk in the depths of our pain, He touches us with love that brings peace. Many of us learn to isolate emotions, to pack them away because they terrify us; it feels as if the pain is a tidal wave that will drown us. Jesus walks on water…He quiets storms. Let him into those reservoirs of fear and He will transform them to rivers of living water for others.
In the Old Testament we read that curses last for three or four generations. We see generational curses all around us: legacies of shame, rebellion and violence. Every individual has opportunity to take the inheritances of yuck and let Jesus transform them into generational blessings. The curses are short-lived in comparison: blessings pass on to thousands of generations. Take the hard stuff you have endured to Jesus; let Him speak life into you that blessings might flow forth from you.
“Joy in the Journey” – Tools for Spiritual Growth helps those who wish to unpack the treasures God deposited in those tough times. To be sure you hear about other new tools, sign up for Glory Glimpses, the newsletter for this site!
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