“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:27-29 MSG
Over the past 14 years, God has allowed me to walk in and then out of the shoes of an addict. A man deeply broken and listening to the World’s guidance of healing. Healing that involved prolonged counseling to find the root causes of trauma that led to a lifetime of porn addiction. Telling me that a deep dive into my past would lead to understanding, then healing, then a future guided by methods learned to manage the temptation of addiction…because I now understood the root cause of the trauma that had led to my addiction.
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 ESV
Today if you are struggling with addiction, temptation, doubt, anxiety or any other life-limiting dependencies, there is another path. This path belongs to and is managed by the Creator of all things. The Father, who when his children Adam & Eve grievously sinned and destined humanity for life apart from Him, sewed them garments and clothed them. “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21 NIV
Isaiah 43:18 says “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.” This scripture was already setting the stage of removing guilt and shame 800 years prior to Jesus being born, guilt and sin and shame dying in the cross, the New Covenant being established that again allowed humans to talk and fellowship directly with God. Yet, we are taught and encouraged by a broken World to get well, then seek seek the Healer.
My journey has taught me and I have witnessed with brothers in Christ over and over again a proven model, that assures my limited mind. A known model from the King of all kings that says “come to me and I will give you rest.” A life model that says seek Christ first in all things. Trust Jesus in all things. Surrender the life experiences that have limited you and allow God the Father to turn these into powerful sources of hope for others. Walk into the father/daughter or father/son relationship that God solely desires with you and through the only hope that is Jesus Christ, then seek to accept and use what was meant for evil and life-limiting for exponential good.
What Satan wants us to believe is too simple and quick, God says there is nothing to complex, too broken, too daunting that I cannot and will not fix if only you ask and believe.
So, I choose to trust in the millennia proven truth that is our Father in Heaven. I choose to believe that the God who would use Elijah to bring a widow’s son back to life, empower John and Peter to heal a man unable to walk and watch him dance around, read of the witnesses who, at Jesus’s command, watched Lazarus walk out of his tomb days after the World said he is dead, understand that God’s healing does not require presence as Elisha instructed the soldier to bathe in the river and was instantly healed of leprosy and truths of miraculous healing over and over and over; I choose to believe in God’s omnipotent power and to stop limiting Him because of my own limitations.
God can and will heal you if you will allow him. Healing begins by surrendering your life to him. Surrendering your life involves acknowledging your sin. Agreeing that Jesus came to earth, died and rose again for your sins, for the promise of eternal life. Asking Jesus to save you from sin, addiction, doubt, despair. Trusting that when you ask Jesus to save you, he will also begin the process of healing old wounds by revealing their purpose and his plans for your life. Healing comes when you are willing to be reconciled that what has occurred has purpose. When we move from victim to victor. When we allow God to unleash his supernatural healing and his super-empowering plans for our lives, our lives and life purposes emerge.
I have witnessed God’s children move from paralysis of trauma and the sin of doubt, to his vessels of hope and impact when they have chosen to simply trust and surrender. God mourns the trauma we have experienced and as the good, good Father that he is, desires to see you soar on wings like eagles as you choose to live the life he has created you to contribute to this World. Purpose is so very freeing. Give it a try.
“But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] Will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, They will walk and not grow tired.” Isaiah 40:31 AMP
You’ve got this