walking through "high lows"

We used to go around the table every night at dinner and give our "high lows".  Basically, what was the best part of our day and the worst part of our day?  I'd really like to get back in the habit of this because it trains our minds and also gives a measure of how everyone is doing.  Even if someone had the worst day ever, they still had to come up with something good.  The good, the bad - both are important.  It's okay to express these things, but I also feel like we have to approach everything in Truth and learn how to not just stay stuck in emotions, but move forward.  This often lead to the best conversations and teachable life moments.

Healing is a process.  I truly believe that in order to heal, we have to come face to face with the pain.  Let's be honest, it'd be a whole lot easier to shove it in a corner, pretend like it didn't happen, or try to put a bandaid over it.  Life's not quite so simple, especially when the pain cuts deep beneath the surface to the places a bandaid could never hope to mask.  I also believe our mind has a way of protecting us.  I've spoken to many who have forgotten or blocked out years in which they were dealing with trauma.  But if it's never truly dealt with, it'll find a way to sneak back into our lives through insecurities, patterns of behavior, and likely affect our relationships.  As I've journeyed through this past year, my desire has been to truly face things, so I can move beyond it.  I've found it important to name things.  As in, writing it down, acknowledging what it was, how it made me feel, how it affected me, and then surrender it.  I do not want to stay stuck in what should have been, in a false reality, or even my desires for the future.  I listened to a podcast recently that so beautifully stated that the first step to resurrection is release.  As a follower of Christ, my first thought of the word resurrection is pertaining to Christ arising from the dead.  As a plural noun, it also means, "the revitalization or revival of something."  Pain and disappointment do not have to paralyze us, but rather, can lead us into newness of life.  We have a living hope in Christ, who "will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair."  This is everything.  1 Peter 1:3 says, "In his great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."  Think about that.  Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.  Our hope is not dead and buried.... our hope is ALIVE.  No matter how difficult our circumstances, nothing can defeat us.  We already know how this plays out and He has the ultimate victory, therefore so do we.  This should change the way we live, the way we think, and even the way we feel.  

This was part of the podcast I referred to above.  Really consider this thought...

"Do we sometimes get crucified on the cross of what we thought God was going to do?  “Lord, if you had been here, this wouldn’t have happened.”  Sometimes it does hurt.  Sometimes people do leave you.  Sometimes it does get tougher.  Even if it does, He still lives.  He’s still with you.  He’s still for you.  Not on the basis of circumstance, but on the basis of faith, I can say I expect a resurrection.  The only way to get to resurrection is to accept death.  

 

That’s what He’s doing in your life right now.  He’s showing you how deep His comfort runs. It’s beneath feelings, it’s beneath facts, it’s beneath logic - it’s beyond it.  Resurrection can’t just be what Jesus did.  Faith can’t just be in the future.  Purpose can’t be stuck in the past.  Some of us are refusing to accept what was taken away and what changed.  So we have lost our ability to expect what God is going to do next.  We can’t deal with what is, because we are still thinking of what should’ve been, or what will be.  Jesus said, “I AM RESURRECTION.”  When He said I AM resurrection, He said - take me to the place where you laid him (Lazarus).  That’s where you have to go.  To the place where you were disappointed.  The first step to resurrection is release.  If you face Friday, you will see Him on Sunday."

This is saying, God, I am letting go of my plans and trusting in Your plans, because I know they are good.  They are better.  They are more than what I could possibly dream or think or imagine.  It's releasing what I wanted, what I expected, or what I hope for and trusting that the One who created me knows what's best for me.  He promises to work all things for my good if I put my love and trust in Him.  I AM is used in the Scriptures over 300 times.  When God spoke to Moses, He said, I AM.  Jesus said I AM over and over again.  Our God is here.  He is now.  He is LIFE.  Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  The Bible is living and active, not some ancient book of literature that doesn't apply to us.  All I have is now - my faith is now, my actions are now, my perspective is now.  So in that, I have a choice of how I will live.  The only thing I can actually control is my perspective - not my circumstances, not other people, not my future - but my mindset.  Another Scripture that I have come to love is Psalm 27:13, "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."  Yes, yes, yes, & amen.  I am declaring this Truth over my life.

I am learning more and more that life is a daily surrender.  Or, as I have often said - moment by moment.  Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me."  No doubt, we are going to mess up, our emotions are going to get the better of us, and we will sometimes live in our flesh.  BUT, we have to discipline our minds, recenter our thoughts, and always go back to Truth and take up our cross again.  We must also learn to be gracious with ourselves, just as He gives us grace.  One of our children's lessons a few weeks back was speaking on this.  When God looks at His children, He doesn't seen our sin - He sees Christ IN US.  This is such a difficult concept to grasp because we live in time, but God lives outside of time.  Jesus' sacrifice on the cross covered all sin.  IT IS FINISHED.  While we can feel so down and defeated in a moment, God simply sees the blood of Jesus washed over His child.  Praise God.  

You know, it doesn't matter how much head knowledge we have, it's not always easy to live it out in the moment.  But grace, upon grace.  I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father who sees, who loves, who cares.  I know my words and my posts may seem redundant at times, but I am so passionate about sharing.  I heard a story about a Pastor who had noticed a person in his congregation that did not sing during worship.  He asked him one day, "why do you not sing?"  To which he replied, "I find it hard to sing if I don't truly believe it."  The Pastor told him, "You sing it until you believe it!"  And that is so true.  We have to speak the Word and speak Truth over our lives until it resonates so deeply that we cannot not believe it!