Undaunted by Christine Caineনমুনা

We have to choose to heal, and trust that if we do what God, the Great Physician, asks, then there will be change, good results, strength, and wholeness. When we accept his invitation to be healed, it means he will help us: Forgive every time we feel anger or mistrust or bitterness. Instead of dwelling on the emotions that were eating me alive, I had to forgive. For years, I’d thought that forgiving meant that I was letting my abusers off the hook. But my refusal to forgive them was doing more damage to me than to them. Like the old adage goes, not forgiving is like ingesting poison and expecting it to kill someone else. Unforgiveness keeps us cowardly and stunted, isolated and alone, ugly and bitter. Daunted. Jesus said to forgive seventy times seven because no matter how much you forgive others, he has forgiven you even more (Matt. 18:21–22; Col. 3:13). When the anger returns, when the pain resurfaces, when we don’t want to forgive again, we must remember how much God forgave us. Stay in the present moment or think on the future instead of rehearsing old injustices and letting your life revolve around the past. There’s greater reward in replacing our negative thoughts with what is pure and noble and lovely now—and in the future (Philippians 4:8). But we have a hard time thinking that way. We naturally default to what’s negative or in the past. I needed to stretch and strain my mind and heart “to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12). Christ took hold of me and you to give all of us a new destiny—to make a difference in this world for him. The only way we can claim that destiny is to let go of our past and look ahead to a heavenly future (Philippians 3:13-14). Let others make their own choices and let go of the illusion of control. We often try to manipulate the circumstances and the people around us. We are not in control. God is. He is sovereign (2 Samuel 7:22). This meant I could allow Nick to make decisions without questioning every single one or feeling the need to control him. He could choose a restaurant without consulting me, even if it meant surprising me. Stop trying to punish with anger and hate those who hurt us. Instead we can let God deal with them. If we’re building walls to protect ourselves, we’re just keeping God and others out. We think we’ll get back at someone through anger or by ignoring them, but God wants us to drop it. He knows we are hurt (Psalm 35:1). We don’t have to deny our pain, but we have to let go of our need to pay back. God won’t let things go. He will contend on our behalf, but most likely not how we would do it (Isaiah 49:13). We have to trust that he’s got our back. Trust in God instead of ourselves. I’ve read how God guided the Israelites to the promised land. I’ve read how he directed people like the wise men to Jesus. How he led so many—even the misguided, like Paul—all the way to the place of hope and eternal salvation. I’ve learned to trust that what God did for others, he will do for me, if only I trust him and follow his leading. If only I will lean into him and believe that he is trustworthy like he says. No matter what any of us have been through, no matter what was meant to do us harm, God can use it for our good and for the good of others. God is able to take the mess of our past and turn it into a message. He can take our trials and tests and turn them into a testimony. Adapted from Undaunted: Daring To Do All That God Calls You To Do by Christine Caine. Copyright © 2019 by Christine Caine. Reprinted with permission of Zondervan Publishing. All rights reserved.