Skip to main content

Looking Back

Life is painful.  For the past few days, I've felt tears at the back of my eyes begging to be released.  I felt a sadness creeping in.  I wanted to curl up and cry.  God has given me peace about much of the suffering that I've walked through in life, but sometimes it comes back up to haunt me.  My heart hurts.  

I know we all walk through suffering.  Suffering is a part of this life.  So, what do we do with it when it comes back up?  That is the question I began to ponder.

1. Sometimes there are lies deeply embedded in our thinking that have to be rooted out so that we can walk forward.  
2. Sometimes we find ourselves dwelling in and reliving the pain of the past.
3. Sometimes we look back and see how God has carried us through the trials of our lives.

Last night, my husband pointed out to me that Satan would like us to focus on #2.  He wants us to dwell there and feel the pain again.  To hold onto it so that God's love and grace will be crowded out.  I think he recognized this because we've already gone over #1 before and had many #1 type discussions over the years.

He encouraged me focus on #3 and to not let myself get stuck in the past.  He's right.  When I look back, I need to look for and see what God did and has done.  I need to look for the reminders God has given me of His faithfulness.  I need to remember my past so that I will remember Him and who HE is.  



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story.  My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard.  Am I questioning too much?  Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way.  But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them.   Recently, I read a book that troubled me.  The book I finished reading was  Guiltless Living  by Ginger Hubbard.  When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...

listening or rather not listening to directions...

This week has been very eye opening. I am observing and noticing what I need to learn in order to be a better homeschooling mom and teacher and what my daughter needs to learn to be a good homeschooling student. My weakness when I was a teacher in a first grade classroom was not understanding how small concepts had to be broken down--and I lost my patience very quickly. This week, in particular today, I am seeing how detailed my directions need to be. I am going to be working very consciously and deliberately on this. On the other hand, I realized that my daughter does not listen! Wowsers! In a classroom, Autumn listens very well. She is a compliant child and very influenced by peer pressure and conformity. So, she listens along with everyone else and follows directions. But, at home, it's just Autumn and maybe Sami and Mommy. Very, very different! I had forgotten that most of kindergarten in the public schools is not focused on teaching students academic and learning co...

Listening to the Bible

The Word of Promise (Bible on CD) I have been reading the Bible for as long as I can remember. I remember being given a Good News Bible when I was in third grade. When I was 14, my great grandmother gave me a copy of the Living Bible. When I went to college, I began to read the NIV and held onto a thin paperback copy for 4 years that I wrote all over. After I graduated from college, I really wanted a nice NIV study Bible and I saved up to buy one. I have held onto it ever since. Last year, I found a tiny ESV leatherbound Bible on clearance and it is now the one I carry with me in my purse. Interestingly enough, after all these years of reading the Bible, I have never listened to it on CD. I've often considered it. I've listened to lots of teaching on CD from Ravi Zacharias, John Piper, and others, but I've never actually listened to the Word on CD. Two weeks ago, I received a copy of the Word of Promise Bible on CD. I opened it up with excitement ...