More on Healing...

Let me share with you something that I have written about before: LETTING GO OF THE PAIN OF THE PAST.

Letting go of the past is one of those things that really SOUNDS alot easier to do than it actually is to do it. I'll use myself as an example:

The majority of my life had brought me nothing but much sorrow and pain. I had been abused, abandoned, rejected, and had dealt with horrible pain stemming from this lifetime of hurt. On top of that, I had made horrible mistakes that I was still paying for, and I think that's the hardest part.

For many years, I was such a wounded vessel, one that felt that I might never recover from the hurts that I had been through. I had no idea how to 'get over it'! I felt that I did not have much hope for a 'normal' life.

One day as I was pondering on how I would ever be able to get over the pain, the Lord told me that He wanted to show me something. I looked at Him, and I saw before me, my own hand with a sliver deep with in it.

I watched as the Lord pulled the long, thin sliver from my palm, and then watched in amazement as the wound closed up and healed until it no longer hurt me. I thought of how many times I had been hurt, had slivers, paper cuts, surgeries, etc, and yes, the wound always healed and the pain went away after awhile.

Then the Lord showed me my hand again, and this time the sliver was much bigger and much deeper. When the Lord reached over to pull the deep sliver from my wound, I quickly closed my hand, making a tight fist, and in the process, driving the sliver even deeper yet and causing much more intense pain than what I would have originally had to go through, had I just let Him remove the cause of the hurt to begin with.

BUT... For one reason or another, I was bent on not letting Him in to reach it.

Then the Lord had spoken to me and said that is what I had done with the pain of my past. I had held it in my heart, placing an 'invisible fist' around it, preventing the Lord from reaching it to pull that deep sliver out. In the process, I had caused myself much more of a deeper pain by doing so.

He then told me that He had made me in His image, irregardless of what others may still think of me. He told me that it is not His will that I was still suffering from the deep rooted pains of all of the mis-justices that had occurred through out my life.

He went on to tell me that as long as I was hanging on to that pain so tightly, that it would be even harder for me to recieve the healing from my past that He so longed to give me.

I thought about how rotten I had felt all of the time because of everything that had happened in my life, everything that had scarred me, and I was so sick of it all. Then I decided to try something new for a change. All that I did was this: I just made the decision that I was sick and tired of it. I didn't want it any more. It was that simple.

I then told the Lord that I needed Him to help me open up that 'invisible fist' that I had around my heart. I wanted Him to take the pain. I wanted Him to pull that sliver out from deep within my being so that in time, it would heal and the wound would go away for good.

The Lord then showed me my heart with this 'invisible fist' around it, asked me to open my hand, and in the process expose my heart, raw and bleeding from all of the many deep wounds that it had known for my whole life.

At first I was afraid to open it up, afraid to let go, afraid I would somehow lose myself if I did so. I balked, trying to think of some excuse not to do it, and finding none. Then...slowly I opened that 'invisible fist'. And what happened wasn't scarey at all. It was pure relief.

When I opened that fist, I released alot of shame and guilt that I had also been hanging on to for most of my life, due to the many hurts that I had gone through.

When I opened that fist and saw how raw and bleeding my heart was from the wounds, I was expecting a lot more pain because of the way it looked. Instead of dealing with a lot more pain, I watched as the Lord reached into my chest and pulled a very long, thick sliver from my heart.

I watched as the last of it came out, and the wound started to close around the area where the sliver once was. I watched as my heart went from being raw and bleeding, to being restored to a healthy heart once again.

And then I heard the Lord tell me that over time, that pain - that wound, would now completely heal and there would be no more pain, much like many of the other physical wounds that I had seen healed over my life time.

I couldn't help but smile, and thank the Lord for all that He's done! It was that simple! That's all I had to do was make the decision, and have the willpower to want to let go of my past once and for all. I just had to make the decision to let go of all of the wounds, and make another decision to want to live in just now, today. Not the past. No thanks!

Emotionally, I was so relieved, that once again I found joy in my heart instead of crippling pain. Yes, it had taken awhile for the wounds to completely heal, but I take great joy in realizing that I don't have to 'hang on to the garbage' of my past any longer.

Church, I just want to encourage you to run to Jesus in times like this! I just want to encourage you to open that 'invisible fist' if you are also dealing with the pain of the past and holding on to it deep within your heart! Let it go!

The Lord did not make us to be bow down in defeat to the pains of our past! That's where Satan would like us to stay! In defeat to our pasts!

The Lord has raised us up to be more than Conquerors, through Him, to be Mighty Warriors because of Him, and to live our lives in Victorylike Him, because that is the promise that He had given us when he shed His blood on that cross all of those years ago!

Remember everything that Jesus had gone through for us! And then.....Remember this: DEFEAT comes before the GREATEST OF VICTORIES! Hang in there, and press in to the Lord...He's waiting for you with arms wide open!

NOTE: If you are holding on to deep wounds and hurts from the past, please know that JESUS longs to heal you, too! If you are holding on to unforgiveness toward someone stemming from an offense committed against you, please know that JESUS longs to forgive you, and longs to help you forgive those that have hurt you. If you would like to receive forgiveness of any sins that you may have committed against the Lord, please know that the Lord is hearing you, this very moment. If you feel the need to repent and pray to the Lord, please pray the following prayer, out loud, to re-commit your life to the Lord and to ask for forgiveness of your sins:

Dear Heavenly Father;

Lord, I have come before You as a sinner, and I acknowledge my sins to You. Jesus, I need You! I believe in my heart that You are the Son of God and that God has raised You from the dead. Please be my Savior, and Lord over my life. Please forgive me for having any unforgiveness toward anyone in my heart. Lord, I would like to now acknowledge that I forgive all those who have trespassed against me, and I am asking that You help me to live my life to please You. Lord, I am asking that You take all of the wounds of my past, and heal me from them, enabling me to live my life victoriously according to Your Word. Lord, I thank You for forgiving me of my sins, and for being my Savior! Lord, I thank You for helping me to forgive those who have hurt me! In Jesus' Name I pray, amen!”