Many people have experienced such trouble in their past that it prohibits them from experiencing the joy and freedom that is in Christ. They are sincere, even zealous, to put an end to the suffering. The consequences of the past come into our present as anger, fear, bitterness, distrust, rejection, worry, guilt, and shame. Is it possible to go back and untwist the past?
1. Set aside some unrushed time to spend with God. If there are horrors in your past that you are afraid of remembering, ask a friend or your pastor to sit with you and pray. Where two or three are gathered, we have the additional promise of the presence of Christ.
2. God loves us with an immeasurable love. If we are to summon the courage to look at our past, we must begin with our present position of security. Take a few moments to remind yourself of God’s love. This prayer can be a beginning:
Lord, Ground me in your love.
You passed by me and spread the corner of your garment over me and covered me. You made a vow to me and I became yours. You loved me while I was still a sinner. You have betrothed me to you forever, in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. You have laid down your life for me. What kind of love is it that I should be called a child of God?
You have spoken tenderly to me and have promised to turn my Valley of Achor into a door of hope. You will restore the years the locusts have eaten. Cast out my fear so that my love for you can be complete. You are mighty to save and your presence is here with me. I rest content because of your love. I long for your joy and gladness. I listen for your loud singing.
Come to me and make your home here. You will never leave me or forsake me and I cast all my cares on you because you care for me. Nothing can separate me from your love. The height and depth of your care is unmeasurable.
3. Sit quietly, in God’s presence, and ask God to show you those events that have nailed your feet to the floor. You may immediately know them or it may take a moment for those memories to surface. Remind yourself that God is all-powerful, all-loving and that anything you remember can be turned for good. He has been there all the days of your life. A prayer like this could be your beginning:
Lord, I stand grateful. You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. All my days are written in your book, the days you formed for me.
You have determined the alotted periods of my life and the boundaries of my dwelling place in order that I might seek and find You. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. In You I live and move and have my being. I am your offspring. You are acquainted with all my ways.
You have kept count of my tossings. Put my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded them in the book of my life. All the events of my life, You have promised, will be turned for good because I love You. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
4. You will know which events are problems because they will shout the loudest. Start with the memory that is loudest or the one that is earliest. This type of memory will give rise to the same kinds of emotions that you had when the event occurred. Face the issue squarely. The Holy Spirit may begin helping you clean up this baggage with questions:
a. How did you feel about what happened?
b. Who was responsible? (Children respond differently than adults; As an adult, try to look again at your responses if the incident occurred when you were a child. Often children will take responsibility for something that was not their fault).
c. Can you forgive others, yourself, God?
d. What consequences have resulted? How has your life changed? Your relationships? What consequences still trip you up?
e. Was Jesus there? Does he care? What can he do with your situation?
This is a way of applying your faith to the needs of your life in a way that can allow you to claim the promises of God in a personal way and move on in the Christian life. The conversation that occurs in prayer cannot be scripted but will include confession, forgiveness, and cleansing. You will know when healing has occurred when the emotions do not rise as they did before and you are waiting to see what good God will bring through it. If emotional baggage remains, talk with your pastor or a godly counselor. God desires for you to be whole!
Lord, unite the pieces of my heart that I may fear your name. Take my brokenness and make me whole. I will give thanks to you, O Lord my God with my whole heart. You make known to me the path of life. In Your presence there is fullness of joy. My heart is glad and my whole being rejoices. My flesh dwells secure. At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Strengthen my inner being with the power of Your Holy Spirit so that Christ can dwell in me, that I may be rooted and grounded in love and strength to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of God so that I may be filled with all the fullness of God.
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