If there were a sign that read, “WARNING: High levels of AVOIDANCE can be damaging to your heart,” I would post it every where I go. The truth is we want healing, but don’t want the process.
I have been amazed by those nature shows that go deep to the ocean’s floor and reveal creatures I never knew existed. Without those brave souls who were willing to first bring light to this uncharted territory we would still be walking around up here on Earth never realizing what was below.
Healing is gonna require you to exchange your snorkeling gear for the real deal scuba diving equipment. What in the world do I mean by that? We can’t stay on the surface and see the depths of the pain our heart holds. It will take being willing to dive deep and bring light to the fearful things that are lurking far below.
I know fear is gripping when we think about facing the past we most want to forget, but today I want to help you see that only LIGHT can point the way out!
My hope is that today you let a little light in to the areas in your heart you have kept deep below the surface. Let’s begin this dive together – and hold on to the truth that no amount of deep sea darkness can overcome the light that is within us!
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can NEVER extinguish it.” (John 1:5 NLT, emphasis mine)
Healing starts with AWARENESS! We cannot heal what we are not willing to see. God’s Word says, “…it is light that brings about a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Ephesians 5:9, GNT) So, Lord, give us the courage to dive deep and bring light to the crevasses in our hearts we have been to afraid to explore. Help us to open our eyes to all the ways we are blocking the light of Your truth from entering our hearts and healing our brokenness.
Are you ready to dive a little deeper and take a peek at where healing begins? Just what do we need to become aware of? Below are 6 questions to begin the journey. These questions stem from the main ways we block healing in our lives.
- Avoidance: What parts of my past do I most want to keep below the surface?
- Negative Thoughts: What have I come to believe about myself because of the painful things that have happened to me? (I am not enough, I am unloveable, I am damaged, My voice doesn’t matter, God doesn’t care about me…)
- Faulty Strategies: What promises have I made to myself because of my pain and how do I try and keep this pain at bay?(E.g. “I will never trust anyone ever again.” Therefore, I isolate myself and make sure the relationships I do have never go deep enough to get to know the real me.)
- Hopelessness: Have I lost all hope and Trust in WHO GOD IS and His ability or willingness to heal my pain?
- Accepting a False Identity: Have I let my past define me instead of who God says that I am?
- Holding on to unforgiveness & Shame: Do I have unforgiveness in my heart toward myself, others, or even God?
It is in God’s presence, in His Light, that we are set free. We need to bring our answers before Him and re-evaluate them in the light of God’s Word? Ask yourself do my answers line up with His truth or do they oppose it?
Re-discover WHO GOD IS for your every need and Who He says that you are in His Word. Uncovering his TRUTH for the lies you have come to believe is the next step to healing!
I often remind myself of who God is when doubt creeps in and life gets overwhelming – He is my savior, my healer, my redeemer, my forgiver, my Good Shepherd and guide, my protector, my refuge, my hope, my peace in the storm, my advocate, my burden-bearer, my defender, my friend, my hiding place, and the keeper of my heart, my all in all, and the answer to all that concerns me!
And when I begin to question who I am, I run to the Word and find: I am accepted, adopted, anointed, appointed, beautiful, blameless, called, chosen, desired, empowered, equipped, free, favored, forgiven, loved, a masterpiece, pure, protected, refined, renewed, redeemed, saved, transformed, valued, victorious, child of GOD!
Start today by declaring who God is for you and Who you are in Him! Write it out and post it EVERYWHERE! It will feel false at first, because you have spent a lot of time speaking the opposite.
But most of all, I urge you to stop living a surface life. Dive deep into the places you have been too afraid to explore and allow the light of God’s truth to give you a new perspective and show you a depth of yourself you may never knew existed!
Be You…Be Blessed