How to be Free

On my last post, I mentioned a rough situation that I went through and how God helped to make it beautiful.  But there is something I would like to expound upon.  In my previous post, I mentioned that "sometimes we just have to push through the feelings of sadness about the losses in our own life and invest in the life of another."  While this statement is true, it is also worthy of clarification.  So, in this post I would like to go deeper into the first part of this statement.

When I said "push through the feelings of sadness," I did not mean ignore them, displace them, minimize these feelings, sweep them under the rug, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and pretend to be happy.  I have used all of these unhealthy patterns at different times during my life and I have found that these strategies do not work and can actually make things worse in the long run.  In fact, these techniques can lead to an overwhelming future breakdown because emotions that are not dealt with properly will eventually be expressed, although not in healthy ways.  All emotions are expressed somehow, either in healthy ways or in unhealthy ways.

So what did I mean about "push through the feelings of sadness?"  By "push through" I really meant to "work through" or "exert effort to go through a place that is not easy."  It is natural to avoid conflict or discomfort, to avoid that whole situation and to try to find an easy route.  It is not exactly natural to stare straight into that uncomfortable emotion or situation and... go into it.  It takes effort to go in.  And it takes excruciating vulnerability and courage to face the truth.  By ignoring the discomfort, pretending it will just go away, hoping it will work itself out by itself, we avoid the truth of the situation. 

When I read the Bible, I see that time and time again God asked people questions about their life.  From Adam and Eve to Elijah to Job, God sure did ask a lot of questions.  Jesus did the same thing.  Questions like "Where are you?," "What is this that you have done?," "What are you doing here? "Who touched Me?," "Do you love Me?"  And it wasn't because He didn't know the answer.  It was because He wanted His people to stop and think about the truth, to press in and uncover the root issue in our heart or situation in life.  He desires that we live in truth and in reality. 

Sometimes the truth is not easy to see at first.  Or, there may be many layers of reasons why we feel the way we do or act the way we do.  But the effort to uncover the real truth of a matter is worth it.

Many times I have found that until I face the truth about my sins, I cannot be free from them.  Sometimes I cannot even know my sins until He helps me to see them.  But then after I clearly see them, if I humbly confess my sins to Him, He is faithful and righteous to forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness.  The blood of Jesus washes my sins away and I am free again.

Many times I have found that until I face the truth about my sorrows, I cannot move past them.  Until I face the truth about my feelings and why I feel a certain way, I cannot make sense of them.  I need to ask the Holy Spirit to help me see the truth so that I can know the root cause of why I am in a particular situation.  He reveals the depths of my own heart and life to me, things I cannot even know in my own initiative.  He is the ultimate Counselor. 

Why does He want to Counsel me and help me admit the truth?  So that I can be SET FREE!  It is the lies, the dark things, the secret things, the hidden things, the strongholds in my life that place me in bondage and keep me weighed down.  But I have the most amazing feeling of freedom when He comes and sits with me to help me sort through the pain and the heartache, the bad choices and the reason I made them, the real reason certain things afflict the core of my being, the real reason why I get angry about certain things or feel ultra sensitive around certain people.  These are complicated issues.  But God loves me and He wants me to be free.  He is patient and kind and merciful and He wants to set His people free! 

The gospel message of being set free from oppression and bondage is about being set free from our sin but it is also about being set free from deep pain caused by other people's sins against us, lies we have believed about ourselves, and deception on all levels.  He wants to heal and forgive us of our sins but He cannot do this until we are honest and we humbly repent.  And He wants to heal every fiber of our being from every wound afflicted upon us but He cannot do it until we are honest with Him about what is in our heart and what really happened to us.  He wants to be invited in to these events and into our hearts so that He can reveal things to us, forgive us, help us forgive others, and heal us.  He is Jehovah Rapha, the God who Heals!

And so as we "push through" the pain to give birth to new life, He will be with us, wrapping us in His grace and mercy and love as we humble ourselves before Him, inviting Him in to the depths of our being.  And we have this promise in John 8:31-32 from Jesus to those who believe Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free."