Scripture of the Day:
Psalm 34:5 (NIV)
“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”
Shame Rx:
It’s Who and what we look to that gives us the strength to overcome the past.
Waking up in a sweat, my thoughts raced through painful memories, thinking I was still trapped there. My mind shifted from trying to fix the parts of my dream I did not like to the present. I was not in the past anymore. But its effect was still plaguing me.
The past is powerful. Depending on whether or not it was pleasant or painful, its reach is still a part of our daily life. But how we process the past will determine whether it paralyzes us or empowers us.
We are not so different from the saints of old. They made their mistakes, too, or their past had pain and consequences that they had to live with. Consequences humble us which can harden our hearts or cause us to draw nearer to God to help us persevere.
Paul could have never forgiven himself for persecuting God’s people, yet God used Him to reach many. David could have allowed his sin and its consequences to
David could have allowed his sin and its consequences to turn his heart from God, but he was a man after God’s own heart.
Peter could have let the shame of his renouncing Christ to define him, instead, He was the rock on which Christ built his church.
Abigail could have let the fear of being married to an ungodly, abusive alcoholic husband hold her back. She likely could have thought through the anger she would face for exposing her husband’s folly and doing the right thing. But she did it anyway.
People, the past, and our own fears can hold us back, but the choice is ours.
What is it from the past that holds us down? If it is no longer happening, why do we allow it to still affect us?
Sometimes it is hard to look at the past when it has been filled with pain, but being willing to examine the past, we can learn from it.
Learning from the past.
Not letting the past define us.
Not letting the past limit us.
Our shame comes from a place of hopelessness – like there is no escape from our shame. Thank God there is! God has a hope for us that never fails. Looking for hope? Not just the kind of hope that wishes for things, but a hope that is certain? Come find Hope Reinvented.