By: Donna Clark
In my last article, I introduced you to a great writing by Jentezen Franklin, Love Like You’ve Never Been Hurt. Many are hurting from recent and ancient pains of rejection and a lack of love and understanding. As I mentioned in that article, love is the only answer to fractured relationships. That type of love can only be demonstrated to others and received for ourselves with help from our Heavenly Father. It doesn’t matter what you have done or what has been done to you, Jesus sees you as one of His wonderful masterpieces.
When it comes down to it, what matters is how our Savior sees us. There will always be the fault finders and those ready to falsely accuse, but when we know in our hearts that we have a Father who loves us and we have the assurance in our soul that we are striving to serve Him, no words or actions should disturb us. However, there are times that we are very much disturbed, disrupted, and downtrodden. As much as we are grieved over the actions and words that we’ve done, or even lack of by others, it saddens God to see us hurting. The good news is that God can bring peace; He can repair what’s been torn apart. Even if it’s not the restoration of a relationship that maybe you’ve longed for, there can be a peace in your heart that will begin to heal the wound. There can be a stillness and calmness that can settle the emotional storm. If there’s a pain of any sort that attacks your mind and heart, the first step I’d like to encourage you to take is to get out of the cage. Let me explain…
Jentezen shares a story about a bear that was captured as a cub and raised in a traveling circus. His life was spent in a 12”x12” cage with a diet of rotten food and dirty water. Every day of his life, he walked back and forth in this cage, swinging his head from left to right, stopping only to eat and sleep. Onlookers would throw items in the cage to stop this back-and-forth pattern, but he always returned to the same rhythm. Finally, the bear was sold to a local zoo where he had a huge area to roam, sparkling pools to frolic in, and companions to share his life with. The sad thing is the bear continued to pace back and forth as if he were still captive in that cage he’d known for years. The bear was imprisoned by mental bars not metal ones. Sometimes, we can do the 12-foot shuffle. That’s exactly where your enemy wants to keep you and as long as you continue that pattern, the good plan that God has for your life can’t be fully achieved and your destiny could be destroyed. How sad to think of all the people with such great talents and abilities being snuffed out, opportunities lost, all because of being mentally bound by the injustices of others or failures they see in themselves. So, how do we stop the continuing pattern? By renewing our mind.
In Romans 12:1-2, Paul tells us to give ourselves to God, not to copy the behavior and customs of this world, to let God transform us into new beings by changing the way we think. Three steps to change wrong thinking. You might not can change another person, what they’ve done or said, but you can change how you let it affect you. You can’t undo the past, if you’re struggling with a mistake or failure yourself, there is no going back and undoing. Meditating on God’s word is the cure for that haunting, painful past. It’s like recalibrating your mind to think on the good things, not the negative. It’s time to shift the focus.
The past can only be healed in one way — forgive it — the one thing you can do to change all of your tomorrows. It’s not an easy task to say the least, but when our life is surrendered to Christ, totally, completely, we have that love that is so far reaching with such a miraculous ability to heal all our scars. A simple prayer is given in the book for those who just don’t know what to pray or where to start –
Father – I forgive and let go of all the mistakes and sins in my life. The lessons have been learned. I forgive everyone and especially myself. Starting today, I choose to walk in love and I thank You for the strength and grace to do it. Amen.
The most important battles we fight, many times, happen in our minds. So, talk back to your inner critic. Focus on a God who loves you tremendously and always will. Renew your mind.
The title of this book really drew me in; I wanted to learn more for myself and to help others. I want to continue this in my next article, but for today let me leave you with this. Your enemy will tell you there is no hope for you, your family. Carry the grudge, wear the shame, give up all hope of reconciliation. Your enemy will tell you it’s impossible to love like you’ve never been hurt. God, however, tells us something completely different; and He will enable you to bury the pain and shame. Healing is possible. God is ready to restore.
By: Donna Clark
