I used to really LIVE in the past and it stole so much from the present. So much.
Around the time I attended college, I became aware of my choice and began to seek God's help...help to move on, desiring for Him to empower me, to heal me from the past, but also to help me forgive myself as well as others.
S-L-O-W-L-Y, I began to release all of the past I had been gripping so hard that my fingers bled, but I was determined to gain victory.
Then, I recently read in the Bible about Lot's wife and how her loyalty seemed divided between the town, Sodom (that God was about to destroy) and the mercy God was giving her family and her by sparing them from this destruction.
See, she looked back.
And the cost was her life.
She became a pillar of salt.
I have been there. I have looked backed...guilty of what if 's and only if I's. Like Lot's wife, disobedient, content in the familiar and stuck like a salt statue. I call this the Pillar of Salt phenomenon. When my comfort zone is more important than obeying. When I ride the past like a merry-go-round.
We can fight this. It isn't easy, ya'll! I still have to shoo at the pillar pest and play tug-of-war with my mind and heart. Christ's death and resurrection was real, is real and we need to start living life based on who we follow (Jesus) and what we believe.
So, how? No, I am not saying that our past is bad, or not important or that God never uses it for His glory. We need to say no to letting our past choke us.
It ain't simple.
Some of you really understand that truth.
Christ's showed us that our past mistakes, broken relationships, etc. ended with His death. Let's walk in freedom one day at a time together!
You are not alone. PLEASE write in the comments if you would like for me to pray for you and or want to talk more on this. Or go to "contact me" and shoot me an email.
*The inspiration for this post came from the book,Women of the Bible, a one-year devotional study of women in scripture by Ann Spangler and Jean E.Syswerda.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteI believe most, if not all, of us have been in Lot's wife's shoes looking back. Yet we are called to fix our eyes upon the LORD.
Glad I came by from SDG.
Caring through Christ, ~ linda
Dionne, I'm saying 'amen!' to these lines, "Christ's death and resurrection was real, is real and we need to start living life based on who we follow (Jesus) and what we believe."
ReplyDeleteThe Devil hates it when the Children of God discover who they really are--priests and kings of the most high.
With power, we can overcome, yes!
It's the hardest thing! I often wish I had a 'rewind' button, or a 'fast forward', or 'pause' - sometimes even 'Stop'! But it seems that rarely do I live on 'play'. Like you, I think that with His help I am getting better at this but have a long way to go.
ReplyDeleteThese are wise words, my friend. Bless you. x
I struggle to stay in the "now"--it's so easy to pop back into a conversation from last week or start planning for next week. And granted, we do need to do those things too! But it's the obsessiveness that gets us in trouble. I appreciate your battle and victory of moving on from the past. Thanks for sharing this, Dionne. It encourages me.
ReplyDeleteThat is one of the life lessons I got that stuck when reading Women of the Bible too!! Listening to God now, obeying now and living now...great lessons for God's best life!!
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