Those who do not believe in our Precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, have certain expectations and misconceptions about those of us who do. Historically, many unbelievers have expected and assumed that Christians are happy all the time; that they have a particular tolerance for suffering. It’s well known that Christ suffered greatly and did so with a compassion and humility that is beyond measure. So in the past, folks have assumed that Christians, like Christ, will not only suffer, but remain hopeful and steadfast amidst great adversity, and may even smile in the face of it. This assumption is fading.
Today, we find many Sisters in Christ that are dealing with devastating situations in their everyday lives, and in many instances they are holding on to the pain of the past. It’s causing hurtful situations to resurface and continue repeating in the present. It’s reaping havoc on their lives and is affecting them to such a degree that they feel incapable of releasing it. When it comes to this kind of emotional pain and suffering, we’re now at a place where there’s little difference between the unbelieving and believers. Christian folks are losing hope, and it is because they are missing one very specific and powerful truth.
Psalm 37:23(NKJV) says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way.” Some of us will read this verse and walk away in agreement of course, but when it comes to our own lives, we will not give it the depth of contemplation it deserves. Your steps are ordered by God. This doesn’t mean that God has set up a predetermined script and you are following it line by line. It means that in His foreknowledge He already knew the place and space that you would occupy. He knows the width of your talent, the breadth of your character, and the landscape of your soul; He knows the extent of your capacity. He knows these things, but the question you must ask yourself is whether or not you know it.
There’s a glorious rhythm to the way God moves, and as I’ve said many times before, He does not wait for us to catch up. No one can do what you do, the way that you will do it; and you are predestined to add your special brand and flavor to the body of Christ. Even so, it is important to understand that if you will not figure out how to put one foot in front of the other, so that you can run the race Heavenly Father has placed before you, someone else will run it. They may not do it quite the way you could have done it, but the beat goes on.
The man that left…the father or mother that abandoned…the childhood trauma that has caused you to repeat patterns that stem from sexual abuse; these are causing you to remain stuck in your life. It is blinding you from the race you’re supposed to be running. It is keeping your mind from functioning on a higher spiritual plane, because you’re not even grasping and dealing fully with what is happening presently in your life. You’re not opening your heart to what God is doing NOW, because you’re operating on something that is no longer a part of your reality. You are giving your power and energy to something that happened long ago, and is now only an illusion that exists in your mind.
We cannot be thankful to God in this moment, if all of us is not present in this moment. This is why the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14 (KJV), “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Before he was filled with the Spirit, Paul did horrible things to Christians. He authorized the deaths of many of them. Imagine if he had focused his mind on the guilt of his past transgressions. There is no way he would have been able to run the race that Christ had laid before him. He would not have been able to write, instruct, and demonstrate the power of God the way that he did.
The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:14 that he pressed toward the mark for the prize. To press requires that we move decisively and confidently through whatever pressures the enemy throws our way. To press is a decision. It’s a choice. This is part of the very specific and powerful truth that you must know. There are two paths that represent your destiny, the one that God has set for you, and the one that is outside the ultimate best for your life. Heavenly Father tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6(NKJV), “5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” This is a choice. We can allow God to direct our paths, or we can direct them ourselves. You choose the path that you will take. You make the choices that will decide your destiny.
God’s Will isn’t dependent on your choices, but your destiny is. If you choose to continue suffering over something that is in your past, God will allow you to do so. If we are unable to release the pain and move forward, the spaces and gaps that happen as a result of our decision to remain stuck will be filled by something or someone else. Life will move forward according to God’s plan, but we will remain in repeat mode, unconsciously attracting and recreating scenarios from the pain that we have refused to leave behind. We can get off this hamster wheel of hurt by trusting in the Lord.
We should want everything that God has in store for us, and it should motivate us to open up our hearts to Heavenly Father, grab on to Him, and don’t let Him go. It’s not enough to seek Him a little on Tuesday and a little on Thursday. There must be a total surrender. Your faith in God, and your refusal to accept anything but total deliverance from the Holy Spirit will fill up the spaces and gaps of your life.
God has given you authority to rule over your existence by the decisions you make, and every decision—from the smallest to the greatest—has a ripple effect upon your present and future. A person that lives in fear will find it very hard to accept the reality that they can change their lives profoundly by the choices they make. Only a person that refuses to be powerless and hopeless rejoices from the great truth that they can change their thoughts and confessions to chart a new course. We’re not fairytale characters, and God doesn’t expect that we’ll be skipping through the fields everyday like pixies. He expects that we’ll press our way through like the conquerors He has made us through Christ. He isn’t asking us to pretend. He is demanding that we believe!
Work with God. Depend totally on Him. He wants to help us avoid heartaches and pain in the future, and He also knows when we are about to cancel out a wonderful blessing by choosing to hold on to the past. Let God in! Ask Him if the pain in your life is keeping you from hearing and walking in the truth. If it is, pray that He will heal your soul. He will reveal exactly what you need to do to embrace all the wonderful blessings that He has in store for you. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Press Your Way Through” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2016. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.