Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Change can be hard.....but reach out and hold on!






Galatians 5:1

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.





Life is such a magnificently beautiful journey!


 
A while back I told you how I felt God was calling me to live in the deep with Him.  
 The deep is right where I found myself for many months, although it felt like a half century.

Here is a small portion of that post….

Living in the Deep
  It’s easy to surrender and trust when your feet are warm in the sand and the walls around your heart are just high enough to keep the bad out, isn’t it?
 But not so easy when you are fighting for air in the deep and the waves are just about to engulf you.  The very walls you have built to feel safe are beginning to crumble.
 It is then when you feel as if you have sunk and the waves have taken over.
The walls we build around our hearts to protect ourselves, can be the very walls God wants to break down to free you from a life of “safe” to a surrendered life of trust in Him completely!

As I think back to this time in my life I am reminded of the feeling of absolute fear that flowed throw every aspect of my body. 
 I’m not talking a healthy fear either; I’m talking the kind of fear that cripples a spirit.  I felt so out of control and it had me panicking.

During this time I decided to go and see a wonderful Christian counselor who helped me sort out my thoughts.  
 She helped me to recognize where a lot of my fears and anxiety stemmed from.   
She encouraged me to open up a lot of past wounds from childhood and walk through it so I could put emotion to the very things I suppressed to keep myself safe.

  The interesting thing about this process is I really thought I had moved past all of that yuck and I was bigger than the things that happened to me back then.

This was not an easy process, actually it was really scary.  

 I felt as if everything around me could just disappear in an instant as if it was a fragment of my imagination. 

I remember there would be times when this overwhelming feeling would come out of nowhere and make me feel as if everything around me was not real. 
 I felt so disconnected with reality as if I was stuck somewhere else.

I read a book about growing up in an addicted home and in this book they explain that children that grow up in an addicted/dysfunctional home can experience post traumatic syndrome.

This was so great to hear because it was exactly what I felt.
 I felt like I was back there, back where the fear was real and I was in survival mode.

The walls we build around our hearts to protect ourselves, can be the very walls God wants to break down to free you from a life of “safe” to a surrendered life of trust in Him completely!

God was showing me the very walls that kept me safe as little girl  where the walls that kept me bound up in chains as an adult and where holding me back from experiencing the total freedom, love and grace He has for me.

I share this with you because change is hard.

  It is a place most of us don’t want to walk because it hurts.

So we hide.

Bury it deep in hopes it won’t return.

We ask God to take it away so we can move past it and I do believe He does take it away at times.  But I also believe He is after a changed heart and a renewed mind. 

 We live in a society that tells us if you are experiencing pain there is a quick fix for that. 

Just package it in a pretty box throw a bow on it and you will be ok.  

Put on your mask and continue on, right?

Might work for a while, but there may come a day when He is calling you to look deeper.
 
Break down walls that radiate safe in your heart but speak bondage to your loving Savior.

If you find yourself face to face with the deep I pray that you will seek His face and trust that even though you may feel like you are losing control He is in more control than you can fathom.  

 He is holding onto you with a steadfast love and He refuses to let go.

Hang on and know there is something magnificently beautiful waiting on the other side. 

Truth
Love
Freedom
Hope
Grace
Mercy
Peace

Jesus isn’t after perfection He is after your heart. 
 He is waiting for you to let go of what you are holding so tight to and reach out and let Him take hold.






Galatians : 13-18

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.  So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

No comments:

Post a Comment