|
Choosing to Forget
Consider the following verses:
Philippians 3:13 "Forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before."
Colossians 3:12-15 "...if any man have a
quarrel (complaint) against any: even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye..."
Mark 11: 25-26 "...but if ye do not forgive,
neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses..."
Luke 6:35-38 "...forgive and ye shall be
forgiven..."
Hebrews 12:1-4 "...let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily
beset us...
For consider Him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against
Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in
your minds."
Hebrews 12:15 "...lest any root of bitterness
springing up trouble you, and thereby many
be defiled."
Job 23:10 "...when He hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold."
Too often, we try
to forget the hurts that we feel. We push
them further back, back, back until they
appear to be gone.
But, this method doesn't
usually work in resolving the situation at
all. If we don't somehow deal with the hurt,
we will often "feed" on it during the low
times of our lives.
What emotion is felt
when that particular person(s) comes your
way? What are your first thoughts?
Do you
immediately remember what he/she/they did to
you so long ago - every minute detail?
We must make a conscious effort and decision
to forget some of the hurts that we have
experienced.
We must "allow ourselves" to
forgive and forget. We can tell a person
that we forgive them, and really think we
have.
When we have to face that person,
however, reality will hit us in the face,
reminding us of what happened.
We can choose
to ignore the voices in our heads, or we can
decide to take the bitterness on again, like
an old, forgotten friend.
It takes a long time to forget, but when we
take our feelings to the Lord, instead of
harboring them and holding them close to our
hearts,
He will help us to forget, just as
He forgets our sins. We cannot do it alone.
Only through the power of God can we truly
free ourselves from the remembrance of
hurtful words and actions.
When we choose to
coddle these negative, self-destructive,
bitter memories, we burden ourselves down
with unnecessary weights.
Life is not as fun
anymore - our freedom is gone. Only when we
submit the weights and feelings to God will
those burdens be lifted.
Only when we
realize that God knows and understands and
is the Chief Forgetter.
God allows things to happen in our lives for
a reason. We must trust Him enough to
realize that He has our best interests in
mind and wants to make us a better person.
Satan will try to convince us that we have a
"right" to stay bitter, that the negative
feelings will go away "in time" and that God
understands why we are bitter.
But God wants
us to rise ABOVE - to forget the situation
and hurt 100% - to trust Him for our lives
and to get rid of the heavy weights that
burden our spirits,
and more importantly,
that keep us from becoming all that He wants
us to be.
Are you struggling with forgiving and
forgetting today? Trust the Lord - give it
to Him - He will give you the strength to
overcome!
The Process - It's Worth the Journey!
Every
season, experience, and situation in our
lives is part of the process of becoming
what God wants us to be.
There is no "10 step program" to be like
Jesus - it's a Process that
takes a lifetime.
If we could grasp this concept, we would not
feel it unfair when unfavorable
circumstances and unpleasant experiences
come our way.
We would be more able to accept life, such
as it is, because we would realize that
Jesus is making us more like Him.
Only through The Process
can we be purified as pure gold.
Our consolation is that He promises to be
with us through every trial.
We are not traveling alone, but have
His Word and promises to cling to
during the rough times.
Our culture has taught us that we deserve an
easy life.
That theory does not line up with God's
way, however. We are promised tests and
trials in this life.
Our culture also teaches us
instant
gratification. God's way is one of
waiting, trusting, and patience.
There is no
quick fix for the tests and trials of
life.
The Process is filled with
ups and downs.
God is able to even take the down times to
show us joy in the smallest things of
life.
His ways are above our ways... His
thoughts above ours...
~The Process takes time, but
it's worth the journey!~
It's About Faith, Not Feelings
It doesn't matter how I feel. Feelings are
fickle. They change like the weather.
Faith, on the other hand, is rock-solid. It
does not change.
Sometimes, we should just ignore our
feelings,
knowing that they are temporary and can't be
trusted a good deal of the time.
Faith says, "I know what God told me, what
His Word says, and I will claim that -
not these negative feelings that I am
having.
Feelings can lead us astray, while faith
will keep our path straight.
"Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen."
Hebrews 11:1
He Works!
"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him,
and He will do this." Psalm 37:5 (NIV)
The literal meaning of this verse is:
Roll your way onto Jehovah and trust
upon Him, and He works."
This
brings to our attention the immediacy of
God's action once we commit, or "roll"
burdens of any kind from our hands into
His.
Whether our burden is a sorrow,
difficulty, physical need, or concern over
the salvation of a loved one, "He works."
When does He work? "He works" now.
We act as if God does not immediately accept
our trust in Him and thereby delays
accomplishing what we ask Him to do.
We
fail to understand that "He works" as we
commit. "He works" now! Praise Him
for the fact that this is true.
Our expectation that He will work is the
very thing enabling the Holy Spirit to
accomplish what we have "rolled" onto Him.
At that point it is out of our grasp, and we
are not to try to do it ourselves. "He
works!" Take comfort from this and do
not try to pick it up again.
What relief there is in knowing He really is
at work on our difficulty!
And when someone says, "But I don't see any
results," pay him no attention.
"He works" if you have "rolled" your burdens
onto Him and are "looking unto Jesus" (Heb.
12:2) to do it.
Your faith may be tested,
but "He works." His Word is true!
~Taken from Streams in the Desert by L.B.
Cowman~
|
