Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish. (Joel 2:13 NLT)
When we’ve done wrong, we often make the mistake of torturing ourselves by thinking we can’t be forgiven. We think that we need to pay for this error, so we try to cling to what was done instead of seeking forgiveness. We just can’t forgive ourselves and choose to carry the burden on our own. In doing so we allow the enemy to replay this in our minds over and over again - not able to get past the guilt.
Often it’s a pride issue; we think we can fix this on our own - after all, we made the mistake in the first place, so we should take care of the mess ourselves.
Other times we are just too ashamed, we’ve been down this road before, we’ve begged for forgiveness and God has shown His mercy time and time again - but yet we’re stuck in the mire and mud filled pit again, not wanting to ask for help - again - not feeling worthy of redemption, again.
I heard a great message Sunday, that helped me with this pit I’m in - I was reminded that just because we’re in a pit, doesn’t mean God can’t use that pit (yes - even if it’s the same pit we find ourselves in repeatedly) to get us shaped into the person God had created for us to be. Maybe we need to work on discipline or maybe we need to stop trying to fix everything ourselves but no matter the reason or circumstance - if we've done wrong, we need to admit our sin and ask for forgiveness, have a true change of heart and once that burden is laid down - leave it and don't pick it back up.
This doesn’t mean God gave us the burden, no God doesn’t punish His children with abuse - He’s our perfect Heavenly Father - you wouldn’t expect a loving earthly father to abuse their child to teach them! So why do people think of God as some cruel, unloving God casting sickness, hatred, evil and death to His children - those are the works of the devil and of man - NOT God!
Yet this hurt that we go through, can be used to serve a purpose! God can take anything and make it good, He brings light into darkness, He brings life where there was death, He brings healing where there was sickness! So don’t think that He can’t use that pit for teaching, growing, molding and changing us into the children of God that we were meant to be.
