Make Sense of Your StorySample

WHEN YOUR HEART IS WOUNDED

As a young adult, I spent years devouring the Bible, looking for help with anxiety, depression, and emotional pain. I tried books, conferences, journaling, prayer, counseling. But little changed in my anguished heart. Then I discovered the power of engaging with my story. This meant more than writing down my life narrative and journaling or thinking about it. It meant acknowledging how my past was affecting my present.

Like me, you may have tried many things to get unstuck. It’s easy to berate yourself for what you imagine is wrong with you. But what if every symptom you have points back to a story that has something to reveal to you?

When a behavior in the present doesn’t make sense, it is usually because we don’t understand how that behavior is rooted in the past. There is a reason you are stuck in the places where you are stuck. That reason will be found by exploring your story, particularly your story in your family of origin. While we can’t dig deep into what that looks like in this devotional, we’ll use these five days to get a glimpse of the healing and hope God has for you.

This passage from Isaiah that foreshadows Jesus identifies the link between our past and how we live today: “[The Lord] has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (61:1).

Isaiah is making a connection between being brokenhearted and becoming a captive. When your heart is wounded, you begin living in a way that assures you that you will never be hurt in that way again. This way of living enslaves you. The Bible calls this idolatry. Your idolatry is not random. It grows in the soil of your pain. It is rooted in the experiences that have caused your brokenheartedness

According to Jesus, it is truth that sets you free (see John 8:32). Freedom can’t come without eyes wide open to past experiences of heartache.

God sees your broken heart and he longs to bring you healing. What does this look like, especially if we have been praying for healing for years? That’s what we’re going to look at tomorrow.

Where do you feel most stuck in life right now? In what ways might that struggle be related to an experience in your past?