-Strength for Today- "Overcome Your Past Pain, and Let Hope Come into Your Life". - Psalm 118:24.

    Each day of our lives is a gift from God that He wants us to live fully – Psalm 118:24. But if the pain we’ve suffered in our past is still impacting our lives now, we can’t fully embrace the joyful affirmation that He’s offering us because we’re stuck in life’s frustrating cycle of “brokenness,” that leaves us feeling “hopeless.”

   The key to overcoming that cycle of past pain is to make the choice to invite God’s hope into our lives, through the “transforming” power of the Holy Spirit, so that His power can “spiritually engrain” our lives, rather than the devil’s intent of “transferring” his devious intent for our past pain into sorrowful:

·       Regrets, and

·       Shame.

    So ask God to break the hold that your past has over you and show you what useful lessons you can learn from it, so you can begin moving forward. Because “God is much more powerful than your history,”, and when you trust Him, He’ll transform your pain into healing, by establishing His wisdom in your life.

    So don’t waste any more time or energy pretending to be ok, when deep-down you’re really “spiritually drained” “confused,” “frightened,” “hurting,” and “lonely. Because if your pain was caused by some sin of yours in the past,

·       Confess that to God, and

·       Repent from that sin,

    And ask Him to forgive you, (1 John 1:9), or if your pain was caused by someone else sinning against you, admit to God that you need to forgive the person who hurt you, and ask God to empower you to do so – Ephesians 4:29-32. Additionally, ask God and some fellow believers “you can trust” to help you start the healing process.

To pursue the healing process, is a matter of turning to the ultimate Healer, Jesus Christ, and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for every step of your healing journey, knowing that Jesus Christ:

·       Specializes in taking what’s broken and

·       Restoring it to how it should be,

    When we surrender our past to God. So embrace in your soul, God’s surprising gift of:

·       Radical grace, that complete

·       Unconditional grace, and His

·       Amazing grace,

That you can count on, no matter what you’ve done in the past, and embrace the true meaning of God’s will for you.  

     So choose to be grateful for all the good gifts that God constantly pours into your life. Because:

·       The more you choose gratitude,

·        The less power

    Satan will have over your painful past. So that you can move past into a hopeful Holy Spirit controlled future. Then you’ll be able to approach any situation from a faithful perspective. So focus on God’s love, and it’ll drive out all fears, and you’ll experience hope beyond measure. So remember that your strength comes from His Word, the root of your faith. So commit to making it a priority in your life this week!

Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD