Drawn into His love

“I imagine God is please when we allow the foolish things of this world to confound our wisdom- when we allow ourselves to be drawn into His love in the most peculiar ways.”- Matt Bays

Matt Bays begins Chapter 10 (“Me Encanta- The Love of God”) of Finding God in the Ruins by observing there are heavenly moments when everything aligns and we have no trouble sensing the presence of God.  So when pain comes, we may be too eager to punctuate our pain with an exclamation point-before that exclamation point belongs there.

Instead, we must understand our pain- be comfortable enough to put an ellipsis where an ellipsis belongs.  In The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson describes an ellipsis as a time of waiting during which we feel God is answering everyone else’s prayers but ours.  Pastor Bays offers his perspective on unredeemed pain and how we are drawn into His love:

“But for those things that have been left unredeemed, pain can be a lifetime mortgage. . . . Yet it will not be all that is me.  It does not complete me.  While it remains, God also will remain.  And I will find him in the ruins, among three thorns and three prayers for their removal.  He will provide his copathy and care. . . and laughter and love- especially love.”

Matt adds that at times it feels like God has invited himself into our pain, when what we really had been looking for was a invitation into God’s healing.  While we desire a God who heals our wounds, Matt states that “it seems we have a God who heals our hearts.”

Today’s question (from Matt): What does the phrase “sometimes it feels like God has invited himself into my pain, when I had hope to be invited into his healing” mean to you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The untold story”

 

Drawn into His love

Initiate the healing process

Following the conclusion of Chapter 4 of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, Sara Horn offers five ways to initiate the healing process.

1.  Recognize God’s truth over your own.  Sara states that dwelling on our scars adds doubt, fear, and plain old lies into our hearts and minds.  She emphasizes that “this is not (italics mine) the time to shy away from knowing and reading God’s Word.”  God won’t leave us by ourselves to deal with our scars. But we must ask Him for His help and trust Him.

2.  Recognize what’s happened to you and what needs to happen going forward.  While we have no control over what already has been done to us, we do control our response and what we do to move forward.  Our choice is not dependent on our own strength and mind, but on God’s strength.

3.  Understand that scars signify healing that’s already started.  Sara encourages us to look beyond the scars to what God has in store for us.  Don’t limit God!

4.  Learn something from your scar.  Learning from our scars requires humbling ourselves.  1 Peter 5:6-7 promises that God will lift us up at just the right time.

5.  Trust God.  Sara notes that this concept sounds simple.  Yet trusting God can come with a lot of fear and hesitation.  Sara provides the antidote: “Surrender your scars.  Let God use them for his purpose and ultimately for his glory and our joy.”

Today’s question: Through God’s power, what steps have you taken to initiate the healing process?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Blame the Other Guy”

 

Initiate the healing process

Healing is a process

“For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”- Psalm 22:24

As Sara Horn concludes Chapter 4 of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, she stresses that when we stay focused  on our scars, those scars can interfere with what God wants us to do.  Rather than letting go, we hold on- and we stop moving on.

When we focus on the One who has all the power, scars lose their control over us.  People and situations fail us, but God never fails us.  Instead of worrying so much about the approval of others, we need to be intentional in our concern about God’s approval.  That begins when we start to realize that Jesus asks for our availability, not our perfection.

Sara observes that all of us are looking for someone who will “get us.”  But we commonly make two mistakes in our search: (1) we look to others to help us heal our hurts, but give up when they can’t or won’t; (2) we believe no one can help us or be there for us, so we don’t even try.  We must remember that no one can “get us” better than God.

Sara concludes that healing is a process, and forgiveness aids in that process.  Healing is a process that takes time.

Today’s question: What Scriptures have been foundational in the process of your healing?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Initiate the healing process”

Healing is a process

Invisible scars

In Chapter 4 (“The Thing About Scars”) of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, Sara Horn states that most people who have physical scars have stories to go with them.  However, not all scars can be seen by our eyes.

Invisible scars are deep wounds that remain with us and take a long time to heal.  Even after they heal, invisible scars are almost impossible to forget.  Sara emphasizes that if those invisible scars aren’t given more time to properly heal, we may add several more scars of our own doing.  Scars from the deep hurt of great loss, such as the loss of ministry or vocation, don’t always cover up what hurt us in the first place.

That’s why, Sara adds, when we talk about forgiveness we must deal with the really hard stuff that is extremely hard to forgive, let go, or even think about and discuss.  These invisible scars don’t just play a part in our past, but affect our future as well.

Sara points out that one fact about a scar is that even if we change our environment, situation, or circumstances, we still may feel the same way as when we first received the scar.  Jesus is the only one who will ever fully understand our hurts.  As we turn to Him for help, He enables us to forgive and let go.

Today’s question: What Scriptures have been foundational in the process of your healing?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Healing is a process”

Invisible scars

Bought at a price

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

As Sara Horn concludes Chapter 1 of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, she states that if there is a lesson that she’s learned as a result of the most recent experiences and journeys God has taken her through, it is that her life is not her own.  Having Christ in our hearts means complete surrender of our wills to His.  Overlooking the hurts and grievances that have come from other people is part of that surrender.

Perhaps, Sara notes, we have been praying for years that God would heal our deep, lingering wounds and scars, so we could move on with our life.  What we may not realize is that God already is working on those scars, on that healing.  Sara emphasizes that God is just waiting for us to meet Him halfway:

“Jesus may be asking something of you today as he prepares to heal your heart, as he helps you let go and get ready to move on from the things keeping you from living the fuller life he desires for you.”

We need to stop listening to the white noise and start listening for God’s voice.

Today’s question: What is keeping you from living the fuller life Christ desires for you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Resentment”

Bought at a price