Every Person Has a Past

Every person has a past...

Some not as pleasant as others, but all with torn up dreams; sudden and unwanted twists to their stories that have an effect on them they never wanted.

In the short life I've lived so far, much has taken place already that I didn't see coming. And when it did, confusion clouded the pathway, and my dreams became a blur. Wounds that went so deep, I never thought I'd be whole again.


Broken trust with those trusted most, broken relationships, hopes dashed, opportunities galore for bitterness and anger to creep in.

As I mentioned in a previous post, When Life Hurts, I recently went through a very painful experience. One that made me wonder if there could be any hope... A loss I could not have imagined to hurt so much.

My first reaction was denial... This could not be happening! I blissfully resisted the truth that what I'd had was gone forever. But soon, the truth began to sink in, and I was hurt. My life felt like it had been torn apart. I became angry. I was angry at God and at those who'd hurt me, angry that this happened to me.

How could God let this happen to me? I questioned... How could God even love me when He lets this happen to me?

Often I would find myself on my knees weeping before God, angry at my circumstances, angry at Him, knowing somehow, though, because of the truth I have been taught, that I had no grounds for my anger towards Him...

"Then I went into your sanctuary, O God.... I realized that my heart was bitter and I was all torn up inside."                                               -Psalm 73:17, 21

I knew my heart was becoming bitter, and through many tears I made that difficult choice to forgive my offenders and to let go of the lies I believed about God.

Let me tell you right now, that is never an easy choice... God's grace is sufficient, but apart from His grace, it is impossible.

The choice of forgiveness is a step you and I take, leaning heavily into the arms of Jesus Christ, who has experienced all pain before you when He walked this earth. He will guide your feet onto the path that is hard to follow apart from Him.

Through the hurts He proves best that He is indeed kind. He is strong enough to carry us when we cannot walk. He is light when the darkness is so thick that we cannot see the path in front of us. He is comfort when we ache so much that there seems to be no remedy for the pain. He is the Great Physician and we must go to Him with every wound.

Every person has a past, but Christ calls us to let go of that past and hang on tight to His nail pierced hands.

He was called to this earth to give us a taste of the glory to come by ridding us of the power of sin and death. He was called to heal us, to give us hope in the darkness, to bind up our wounds and set us free. Jesus read His calling in the synagogue before those who did not believe Him to be the Messiah from Isaiah 61;

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; ...to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness..." 

No longer are we to let our wounds fester, our broken heart remain crushed, our life be bound up in bitterness, our mourning become hopelessness; no longer are we to remain captive to the curse of death in this world, to hang onto our ashes, to let a spirit of heaviness weigh us down...

No, Jesus has traded His life for ours! He wants us to be free!

As with physical wounds, the deeper they are, the more often we need to return to the doctor; So it is with our heart.

The deeper the hurt is, the longer the healing process, the more often we must go to that Great Physician and let Him bind up the wound again. Don't ignore your past, bring it to the One who can heal you of its effects on your life! I have found that He is in fact capable of doing just that!

Go, and keep going to this God who cares... He is great and mighty, but He also cares about every detail of your life. He is not distant, but close by.

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed." (Psalm 34:18)

My friend, do not believe the lie that God has abandoned you... In whatever you are going through, He longs to show Himself to you, He longs to rescue and restore you. He stands ready to help you.

The moment you cry to Him, He is ready to answer and to heal you. You must stay close to His side, for as a shepherd carries a lamb, so He will carry you close to His heart.