For the past year I have been in counseling trying to work through some areas of my life that have held me back for a long time. It has been a really tough year. At times it has seemed like I was really moving forward and other times it seamed no progress had been made at all. Although the holidays are a great time they also tend to bring up a lot of the pain and hurt that are in your life. As I was meeting with my counselor Mike and going over a list of things that I am still struggling to get a hold of, at the end it really came down to being intentional about moving forward. This does not mean I minimize the issues or ignore them but I do have a choice to stay in the same place and lament my life or I can ruthlessly pursue wholeness and move forward. Now a lot of you your probably going " well duh" and it's not the first time I have been told that either but this time it seemed to click. Yes I have some deep hurts in my life that I need God to heal and he is but I am part of the process to. The neat thing is is that God respects me enough that he allows me to take part in the process of healing. There are things I can do each day that will draw me closer to the healing that God has for me. So what does it mean to be intentional? It means taking the steps that are needed to grow and to remove the crutches and distractions that allow me to ignore the pain. You see the way to healing involves going through the pain and not around it. It means that I don't use food, TV, music or any other thing to deaden the pain or make me forget it. I leave myself no escape from it and allow God to walk with me through the pain. If I am rambling please forgive me but since I don't know who will read this I want to make sure that this gets out. The second thing I know is that I can not do this alone. It is so tempting sometimes to want to hide the pain from others but that just makes it worse. I must and so must you allow others into your life, your pain and into your struggles. It is in a fellowship of committed friends and family that God loves to work. So for all of you who are in a place of pain or just feeling dead to your heart I want to encourage you to move towards God today, stop running from the pain and face it head on. Get a councilor who can help you understand what going on and then embrace life again. That my goal and I will finish this race. For myself, my family and the fellowship of friends that are walking with me through this. More to come.
Tom
2 comments:
Reason isn't everything.
When the sun shines orange from the horizon, and the sky is dappled in purple, and the seagulls are honking boisterously, there are two ways I can look at it. Both are valid.
I can say, "the light of the nearest star is being scattered in the ionosphere and lower atmosphere, causing unusual layers in the appearance of the air mass I am peering through, resulting in unusual bands of the colour spectrum. I also note that the charadriforme aviformes are retiring to their island location for the night, as their evolution has led them to be highly diurnal life forms, due to such factors as strong vision and poor sense of smell."
Or (and also), I can say, "Thank you God, for another beautiful day."
I totally agree lane. Reason can never be the all in all but it does have its place. The key to finding life and wholeness is ultimatly found in walking in deep and personal fellowship with God and taking the steps he leads you to. Thanks for posting.
Tom
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