Learning to Let Go of the Past

Whenever we are faced with the challenge of living through a difficult tragedy or loss,  it takes everything we have to just face tomorrow. To somehow see how life can work now that our plans are shattered, or a relationship has ended makes starting over seem life an overwhelming impossibility.

We cannot live in the shadow of past regrets, but we can find ways to live in today's new beginning. Starting anything over is no easy task. Like the game of  Jenga, when the blocks of our plans come tumbling down, we have to stay in the game, pick up the pieces and begin again.It is never easy to start over. To have the courage and confidence to create a new beginning can feel overwhelming.

Life is not a Game

Playing a game with our family or friends is one thing, but life as we all know, is not a game. Sometimes, things happen that we have no control over yet we have to live with the impact of the consequences nonetheless.

Time Travelers know the meaning of finding it difficult to not revisit the past and go over strategies and contingency plans over and over to try to make some sense over what went wrong. Like the game of Jenga, every piece of our actions create a foundation for the choices yet to be made. If a certain foundational piece is unstable, whatever we do next can cause everything we call important to us, to come tumbling down.

We need to find a way to let  go of the Past

It just doesn't seem fair to have been hurt by someone, to lose a cherished family member, or find that recent financial problems have led to seeing one's home foreclosed upon. Every piece of our life is connected to another piece of our life. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not here yet, so find a way to live for today.

It is no easy thing to pretend it just doesn't matter to have lost everything that was important or meaningful in your life.To wake up each morning and put on the happy face, the serious face or it really doesn't matter face, only works for a little while. All too soon you find yourself time traveling back to the past, lost in a sea of regret, or caught up in the worries of tomorrow, in a tornado of anxiety, that just leaves you overwhelmed once again.

That is why it can be so difficult to move on when you cannot see how the next piece can fit into place without the other unknown pieces. We all know that life is more than a bunch of puzzle pieces, but how do you begin again?

Only a life with Jesus Christ can give us the wondrous balance to live in the present, while being painfully overwhelmed and grieved with a tragic event in the past and filled with anxious uncertainties about the future. How is that possible? 

 Every one of us will travel on the Road to Emmaus

One day two disciples of Jesus Christ were walking along the Road to the city of Emmaus, about 7 miles from Jerusalem. Their hearts were overwhelmed with events that had taken place just a few days before. Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, had been crucified, and was dead and buried in a tomb in Jerusalem. With that tragedy, so were their hopes and dreams. Time had literally stopped for these time travelers.

“Now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.” Luke 24:13-14

They desperately needed some way  to make sense of what had happened.

The Lord Jesus drew near and walked with them

“As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” Luke 24:15-18

The  Lord encouraged them to verbalize the reason for their heavy hearts

Jesus Christ stepped into real time as it was happening in the present, and met with two confused, hurting disciples. Sometimes we fail to remember that God reaches out to us at the point of our deepest felt need.

Even though He already knew, He wanted to have them express their own perspective on what was specifically troubling them. “What things?”  Luke 24:19a

 The Lord allowed them to share what was heaviest on their hearts

We can so easily cut people off and give eloquent advice, applicable verses from the Bible and even offer to pray for hurting people, but we far too seldom are patient enough to allow them to share the depth of their heartbreak or the impact of their shattered dreams upon their lives. What a confusing time it must have been to so many people when Jesus Christ, the expected Redeemer, the Lord of Salvation, was crucified.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

 

 The Lord understands what it is like to lose Hope

 

"And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” Luke 24:19b-24

The Lord brought truth from the Scriptures to reach their troubled hearts

We can encourage people with poems and songs, gifts and hugs, but people only truly change when God’s Word enters their troubled hearts and minds.

“He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”  Luke 24:25-27

The Lord never pushes Himself upon us but wants us to invite Him near

“As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and he disappeared from their sight.” Luke 24:28-31  

 

The Lord ignited their troubled hearts and it changed their lives

 When people are open with God and allow His Word to impact them they will never be the same. The Lord is present with us and He will reveal truth to our troubled minds and catch our hearts on fire with new hope if we will allow Him to be the Lord of yesterday, today and tomorrow. He alone holds time in His hands.

“They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24: 32

Those of us who tend to be time travelers need to lock into the now of their lives. They struggle most for the discipline of being present and accounted for. These disciples stopped in their tracks, stepped out of the past, forgot about the future and grasped the critical reality that was theirs in the present. Divine responsibility replaced meaningless time traveling.

“They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.” Luke 24:35 

What can we learn from this amazing account?

When you are overwhelmed, and drifting through the past, or anxious and dreading the unknown fears of the future, always remember that there really is no problem in your life that God cannot help you find the answers that you need to do what is right and good.

• When your heart is heavy, remember that Jesus is near
• He will walk you through how to sort out of your concerns
• He wants you to be honest and open about your fears
• Be open to hear what the Scriptures say about your troubles
• Invite The Lord to draw near as you sort out what to do
• Ask Him to set your heart on fire, not just fix your problem
• Determine to follow through and apply what He has revealed to you

Thoughts to Ponder:

Why is it so hard to release to God what has caused so much pain in our lives?

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

Everyone Needs a Quiet Place

We all need significant times in our lives where we experience the peacefulness of complete and total silence. Hushed moments where we can make a heartfelt exploration of our deepest questions, posed before the Almighty God of the universe; questions that are whispered in but a single solitary moment in time. God is timeless, yet He pauses, draws near to our hearts, and listens to what we are really saying, when no one else is really listening.

We all need to find a solitary place where we can stop the world, breathe our own oxygen and hear the sounds of silence. Yet mere aloneness or solitude is not an asset that truly satisfies unless we are able to connect to someone greater than ourselves.

 “If one pictures life as a line on a page, one must picture God as the page on which the line is drawn.” CS Lewis

What is this Quiet Place within us? How did it get there? If there is Quiet Place within us, why can’t we easily find it? Most people are so afraid of silence and solitude that we cringe from the quiet and even panic at the mere thought of solitude. The very idea of a prolonged period of quietness can seem to suffocate our consciousness, rather than liberate our deepest self. Inner exploration as a pilgrimage in and of itself, can lead one into a maze from which there are no true answers and for some, only a disillusioned imprisonment, from which there can seem no escape.

There is a Quiet Place within every one of us

There is a God created domain, deep in the very soul of every human being. It is a place within our soul that nothing can truly fill except our creator Himself. He created us to be indwelt by His Spirit, and nothing in life can take His place there.

The reality of this truth could fill a myriad of blogs. This one cannot explore the depths of such a vast topic. My hope is that it touches a parched tongue with a drop of water so as to find the fountain from which living water can truly be found.

One of the most terrifying of incarcerations is one of solitary confinement? Why is that?  Yet the Monastic zealots, the Ascetics, the Gnostics and the philosophers of history, write of such a quest with passionate fervency. Many however, have later ventured forth disillusioned, broken in spirit, mentally bankrupt, and unable to function in society at all. Their baptism into rigorous, and disciplined prolonged periods of solitude, had changed them, but the change was a metamorphosis into having lost their self completely, rather than having found their true self.

 The deeper into themselves that they had searched, the more enslaved and shackled they became; captives of their own disillusionment, rather than becoming liberated and set free. There is a truth that cannot be denied: The longer one lives in the darkness, the blinder he will become. 

"The world's smallest package is a man wrapped up in Himself."    Charles Swindoll 

"The Lord is near those who have a broken heart." Psalm 34:18 

Life within the Inner Storm

  

Your own Quiet Place may be enveloped by a raging storm within your life right now, or seemingly imprisoned by an addiction that now has you trapped rather than enlightened. Your profound heartache, bitterness at being hurt, or unending physical pain and suffering may numb the reality of it, but the Quiet Place is real. It is God’s private place to share life with you and you alone. Regardless of what is happening to you, taking place around you or going on within you, always remember that you are not alone in the storm.

"His way is in the whirlwind and the storm..." Nahum 1:3

As our lives are jammed tight with unending schedules, time pressures, and burdensome obligations, it may not seem like there is Quiet within, but it is there amidst the noise and the stress...it just doesn't  seem accessible. In times of hardship, suffering, or loneliness, we are more conscious of the Quiet Place within, but it is encumbered and suppressed by depression, sorrow, and feelings of deep despair. We may see the dim pathway to it, shimmering across our minds eye like a mirage, but then it seems to dim and fade amidst the pain. 

God’s Promise to us 

Only God can become our Quiet Place. Only He can prepare within us, through His redemptive mercy and grace, a new place where He can commune with us and we can truly know Him and worship Him.

" I will give them one heart (a new heart) and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony (unnaturally hardened) heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh (sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God).” Ezekiel 11:19 Amplified. Bible
 

“God’s quest to be glorified, and our quest to be satisfied reach their goal in this one experience; when our delight in God overflows in praise for God , for praise is the sweetness of His own excellence in the hearts of His people. For us, praise is the summit of satisfaction that comes from  living in fellowship with God.” John Piper

 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”    2 Corinthians 5:17 

We discover in life that no amount of money or fame or possessions or power can satisfy the Quiet Place. Even in spite of all of the sentimental poetry, romance novels, love songs or love stories depicted in movies, no person can truly fill the Quiet Place.

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” John Piper

The Quiet Place exists within us regardless of our age, gender, or nationality. It exists no matter where we were born, or whatever language we may speak. The Quiet Place exits as a human reality. It is no less a fact than the truth that the sun rises every morning. It exists within us as certain as the astrological proof that the moon courses its way across the heavens, even if it is obscured from our sight because of a raging storm.

Counsel from a Pilgrim Traveler

“Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” Psalm 32:6 -7

Comfort from a Loving God

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Psalm 32:8

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty (Whose power no foe can withstand).”  Psalm 91:1 Amplified Bible

 
No matter how many mistakes you have made, or how far away from God you may feel, or how broken your heart may be within you, God desires to know you and to show you how to turn a heart of chaos and turmoil into a Quiet Place.

Take a few moments to breathe and watch this inspirational music video

Hanging on to Hope

We are often made most aware of our need for strength when we are at the very weakest in our lives. It doesn’t take long before tough times can bring the strongest person to his knees, where it seems impossible to solve the dilemma that is draining him of the needed resources to hang in there when he feels like quitting and throwing in the towel. 

Some days you can literally feel like you are at the end of your rope and hanging on by your fingertips alone. During a season of unrelenting tough times, it can seem that no matter what we do, or how hard we pray, that nothing ever changes. In truth, it is natural to hope that life will get better, that our pain will heal or that our financial setbacks will turn into financial gains. That is human nature. We were created to enjoy sunrises, not cold winter storms. 

There are mornings when you can awake with the premonition that the day just seems to have a negative spin to it. You just know that trouble is stalking outside of our door, awaiting your first stumble. A morning where the toothpaste gushes out and drops onto your fresh clean shirt, then you sit down to have some breakfast and discover that one of the kids has left something awful on the chair that squishes against the seat of your pants, and then on our way to the car, you step in dog poop and fail to realize it until you are stuck in rush hour traffic with the windows rolled up. 

When Hope is needed the Most

It is insightful to remember that a flower follows the sun even on cloudy days. It may not see the sun, but it follows where the sun is moving across a cloud banked sky. The only gaze that strengthens and gives you courage to not give up, is to keep your eyes upon God and trust in His Word to give you the strength and the wisdom that you need. It is only through Him that the deepest resources of peace, hope and joy, in the midst of suffering and in spite of suffering, can be accessed.

Doubting God in Midst of Suffering

It is very difficult to hang on to hope and not give in to weary despair and have doubts of God’s love for us as we hang on to the ledge of our fleeting faith with trembling fingertips. In reality it is human nature to feel that way and is completely normal. What is supernatural is to see past the present trial that is testing our faith, and see the Sovereign hand of our Father in Heaven at work in our circumstance.The doubt of your faith is not so much God testing you beyond what you can handle, but it is the Truth seeking to enlarge your faith and free you from despair.

Paul wrote this truth to give us perspective during tough times while he was chained and confined in a Roman prison experiencing painful and disappointing suffering and deprivation.

“Now I want you to know and continue to rest assured, brethren, that what has happened to me through this imprisonment has actually only served to advance and give a renewed impetus to the spreading of the good news of the Gospel. This a fact that throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest here my imprisonment has become generally known to be in Christ that I am a prisoner in His service and for Him”. Philippians 1:12-13 Amplified Bible

Tough things happen to us, so that something will happen in us, so that something will happen through us to touch the lives of others. Things were happening to Paul, so that something would happen in Paul, so that something would happen through Paul. That something was the Gospel igniting within the corridors of that prison, and then it flowed throughout the known world in the form of the prison epistles written there, namely, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon (See Acts 28).

Cultivating a Thankful Heart

What a challenge it can be give thanks to God when you are going through the winter storms of life.

“Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thess. 5:18

Giving thanks for the tough things that are going on in our lives at all times, in every circumstance and without exception? This seems illogical and bizarre, especially when you are at the end of your rope. Why would a person be encouraged to thank God when his dreams are shattered and broken in pieces at his feet and he doesn’t know why or how that happened? Because it is not for the terrible circumstance that we are thanking Him for, but the liberating truth that in spite of tough times, we can rise above the storm with a song of praise in our hearts. (See Psalm 46-1-11).

Trusting God is more than a Feeling

The following Scripture sheds light on a crucial truth that is important to get a hold of early in his life:

“Trust in the Lord with all of you heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge him and He will make your paths straight.”  Proverbs 3:5-6

The Word of God directs us to trust in the Lord with all of our heart and to not draw our own conclusions, derive a life strategy from, or rely upon our own ideas, our wits, our education or our life experience, as we live our lives each day. We are to establish in our minds that in all ways, in everything, and at all times we are to acknowledge Him and make His will our will and His way our way. As we do so, He will provide, from His Word, a strategy as to what to do in any situation that we are facing. 

God’s counsel in The Quiet Place of our heart is to discover that there is only one way where troubles, grief and sorrow can find comfort and meaning. He alone is the God of all comfort. To lean one’s hopes on anything other than God and His wondrous grace is to set oneself up for disappointment and despair.

“Find rest, O my soul in God alone; my hope comes from him.” Psalm 62:5

“You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your Word.” Psalm 119:114

Our hope must look confidently forward to something divinely purposeful, eternal and good that is yet to happen. We need to cling to the truth that regardless of the circumstances, God’s Sovereign purpose will be done in our lives. In spite of what we cannot see, He is at work and He is Lord. The natural man must see in order to believe but the spiritual man must believe in order to see.

 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

 “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Rom 8:24-25

When it seems that God is Silent

The reality is that God sometimes allows suffering to remain unchanged and unrelenting in our lives. His will may be that for this time, the pain will continue, and the trial may be there again tomorrow. Do not doubt His love or compassion for you in the midst of your suffering, no matter how dark the night. 

In The Quiet Place, God calls gently to us to still our anxious heart, and discover anew that it is here that true honesty and a humble openness with God are present. If the trial does not change for the better, do not doubt God or His Word. To do so will leave you confused and disappointed that your request seems to have been denied. The seeming delay may mean that God may be saying, “No,” or “Not Now?”

  

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, ”Do not fear, I will help you."  Isa 41:10, 13

He is right there with you, right now. It is wonderful to greet the sunrise with the confident awareness of the presence of the God who created it, and the One who will be beside you whatever your day brings forth.Do not be afraid to venture out and experience the wonder and glory of being His child. There are simply no burdens, heartaches or times of suffering that can take away the hush of being with Him in The Quiet Place.