See Beyond Your Circumstances

It doesn’t matter how you grew up. It doesn’t matter if you were raised with a parent who was addicted, if you were abused, or maybe you were just raised in a household of general chaos—you can still win. You might have some healing to get to, but you can have a life that’s very different from the one you once knew. God may not have put you in that situation, but He did allow for you to endure it and will ultimately work it out for your good, as His word tells us:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Notice that scripture doesn’t say all good things. It doesn’t say all bad things either. It’s very simple: Continue to love God, to seek His purpose, and any and everything, past or present, will work together for your good.

It’s often said that adversity shapes us, and I can attest to that. Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, I learned some not-so-great things and picked up some patterns that I’ve had to reconcile. In a household of constant uncertainty, you might not develop that part of you that can balance healthy cautiousness with open-heartedness. So trusting people, even God, has been a point of healing for me.

One of the most helpful lessons I learned is the importance of not letting others dictate your future, and not letting your circumstances dictate your destiny. No matter how dire the situation, it is always possible to rise above it. We can refuse to be a victim of our circumstances and instead choose to use those experiences as fuel to drive our ambition.

In the end, it is not the hardships we face that define us, but how we respond to them. We must be willing and able to look beyond the specifics of our challenges and focus on the possibilities. We must not lose hope. The struggles you face and your own determination will contribute to the person you become as you hold all of your story with gratitude instead of shame.

Pray

Heavenly Father, thank You that Your love, grace, mercy, and healing can enable me to overcome even the most difficult past and walk into a brighter future with You. Amen.