Most of us have heard the phrase “history repeats itself.” While there is some truth to that statement, it doesn’t have to be so for those in Christ Jesus because all things have become new.
Sometimes our past appears to dictate our present and our future. It is often hard for us to overcome defeat in our soul and forgiving ourselves can be the most difficult task to accomplish. Soul healing is definitely a process but one that is possible if done with the grace of God and the love blood of Jesus Christ.
As a woman who has lived a life of turbulent rejection, pain, abuse, and self-conflict I can attest to the healing power of the Holy Spirit in our lives if we would submit and surrender our history to the Lord.
Sometimes the Lord will release something into our spirits when we are not paying attention. He knows how to get through to our busy minds, and for me, often it is when I am physically active and have my thoughts stayed on one thing. This is how it was the other day while I was painting.
I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Don’t allow your history to navigate your future for surely your future will hold many twists and turns, ups and downs, ins and outs and some will end beautifully and some will end painfully.”
When I heard this, I stopped to ponder these words. This is the cycle of life. The journey that we are on called life can be very treacherous, but if we embrace the mountains, the hills, and the valleys, we will surely arrive at a destiny that is well worth the travel.
Our pasts do not have to dictate our future, but when we are stuck in the past, we can’t embrace our destiny. Everything we need to do to begin the healing process of life’s hurts start with forgiving someone. We may need to forgive those who rejected us, we may need to forgive ourselves for times of adversity towards God that led us down extremely regrettable paths, and still, we may need to forgive God because we came to believe all is in His hand and He could have stopped the pain but didn’t.
When King Saul was removed from the throne, God raised up David and considered him a man after His own heart (Act 13:22; 1 Sam 13:14). However, David sinned and sinned largely! There was nothing God wouldn’t give David if He asked as he had favor with the Lord (2 Sam 12:8); yet he lusted for more. In a time of weakness and possibly disobedience, David spied a woman bathing on a rooftop and desired her. As king he sent for this woman and laid with her, impregnating her with his child. As if it wasn’t enough to sin in adultery, David then put the woman’s husband Uriah in the front lines of battle and told the commanding officer to pull back so that he would be killed in battle. Uriah was a loyal man to the army of David so much so that he refused to go home to his wife when all the other men were on the battle line. David tried to get this man to go home and lay with his wife so he could cover up his sin and when it backfired, he had him killed. It is not uncommon for us to sin and try to hide it or run from God as if He doesn’t see our sinful state.
David was a king and kings went to battle, but for some reason, he did not go out this time.
It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out [to battle], that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman [was] very beautiful to behold. - 2Sa 11:1-2 NKJV
David is credited for much of the book of Psalms, and most of them talk about keeping the Lord's commands and statues, and yet he clearly committed adultery and murder breaking those commandments. David coldly and cunningly conspired to have this woman’s husband, a loyal member of his army, killed after getting her pregnant. This doesn’t sound like a man after God’s own heart, yet God said he was.
David was chosen, anointed, and empowered to serve God at a high level but his character was in need of fine tuning, and at times so are ours. Sadly, David’s sin cost Israel many lives including David’s own child who died. This could have been the end of the story, but then we would not see the redemptive purposes of God for a person’s life. David was used to establish the coming of Jesus Christ, the worlds Redeemer came through David's life.
The following verse offers an example of David’s heart towards God. And David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly." - 2Sa 24:10
On numerous occasions, David repented for his sin and recognized his foolishness. Because he continuously chose to humble himself before the Lord and was willing to reap the cost of what he sowed God continued to use him and forgive him. That’s God in the Old Covenant, and it is the same and even greater today under the New Covenant and Jesus Christ.
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." - Jas 4:6
Humility Brings God Closer
Humility brings God closer to us because we draw closer to Him. When we recognize there is nothing we can do to restore or correct the effects of our sin, and we turn to Him, He hears and responds. I believe this is one of the reasons God chose to call David a man after His own heart. In spite of David’s sinful weaknesses, he loved God and chased after him. David made it a lifestyle to worship God publicly and with abandonment. That’s what brings freedom, an abandoned heart towards God.
Jesus did not come to this world to give us a fluffy place in Heaven; He came to restore us to the Father. He said in Isaiah 61 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”
The word brokenhearted describes a crushing, hurt, tear, or destruction. Brokenhearted means to have one’s emotions rend violently, wrecked, broken down, break apart, crushed, maimed, crippled, shattered, or ruptured.
It has been my experience that man cannot fix the brokenhearted; medicines are not able to undo what has been done to rupture a person’s heart. Only Jesus Christ can fix, mend, heal, and restore this kind of brokenness.
Today, if you are broken and believe you have done too much to be forgiven, then I beseech you in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ to give up. Quit fighting God and resist the one who hates Him and you. Satan is here with power, might, and words of destruction to annihilate our lives and if we are to be healed and free we must stop believing that he is a truth teller and God a liar! God does not lie, and He does not change. If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive them and toss them in the sea of forgetfulness never to be used against us again.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, [So] great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, [So] far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities [his] children, [So] the LORD pities those who fear Him. - Psa 103:10-13
Let’s Pray,
Heavenly Father, forgive me for listening to the voice of strangers when Jesus said Your sheep hear Your voice. Today I choose to believe Your word about me and embrace forgiveness. I ask that the Spirit of the fear of the Lord be upon me and in my life that I might walk in the truth so I can be free. I choose to forgive those who have maimed my soul and caused me to believe something other than what You say I am. I’m ready today to embrace my new creation identity and believe that with the help of Your Holy Spirit residing in me that I can be all You have called me to be. In Jesus name, Amen