Moving past your pain

We have all been a victim of something in our lives.

A victim of hateful words.

A victim of painful circumstances.

A victim of physical, mental, or emotional abuse.

That abuse may have happened one time and once it happened everything in your world changed.

Sometimes that abuse happens for weeks, for months, and for years and when it stops we don’t even know how to live life normally anymore.

And then we have to make a very important choice: to let it continue to reign in our lives or to do what it takes to overcome it.

We choose whether we will be victorious over our circumstances or whether we remain victims long after the abuse is done.

And sadly, many people choose to live life with a victim mentality believing that once you are a victim you are always a victim.

That once you have been broken you cannot be restored again.

That once you have been hurt you cannot be whole again.

And that’s a mentality that will keep you locked up in a prison longer than any physical prison ever will.

If I think about victims in the Bible and their response to the victimization that they faced I can think of two great examples: Joseph and the Israelites.

Joseph was a victim of taunting words and betrayal by his brothers.

That abuse led him to being locked up in a dungeon cell, but even though he was physically locked up in his mind he was free because he chose not to allow the victim mentality to reach his heart.

He didn’t let the abuse of his past stop him from fulfilling his destiny.

The Israelites had quite the opposite outcome.

They were also abused for 400 years.

They didn’t know how to live a life outside of physical torture and hate.

And one day God divinely stepped into their pain and halted the slavery.

He opened up a door of freedom for them to escape to.

He gave them hope for a Promised Land.

And although they physically started walking toward that Promised Land the people that left that day never stepped foot into it because mentally they were still trapped in slavery.

Instead of seeing themselves as free women and men walking toward victory they saw themselves as those same victims that had no hope for a life that was better than their abuse.

They didn’t trust God and at one point even wanted to turn back because even though they heard the promise He had made they didn’t think life could be any other way than the way it had always been.

They were free men walking as slaves and because of that they never made it to that Promised Land waiting for them.

And on top of that they chose to complain about Moses, about God, about the food that God provided them with. (Numbers 14:2)

And how often do we do the same?

We blame God for our problems?

We blame our circumstances for getting us to where we are today?

We blame people for the ways that they have hurt us?

And by doing so we reject the responsibility we have to keep moving forward with God.

We remain enslaved to bitterness, to pain, and to an invisible prison cell.

We fail to enter the Promised Land that God has prepared for us and the future that is better than our past because we don’t want to let go of our victim mentality.

If there is one important lesson you can learn from Joseph and the Isrealites it’s this: you may have been a victim yesterday but that doesn’t mean you have to be a victim forever.

What happened yesterday, or last week, or five years ago doesn’t have to determine your destiny.

You won’t be able to erase the pain of the oppression or the memories but every day you can choose to refuse to replay them in your head and be held captive by them.

You may have been a victim yesterday but you can start heading to your Promised Land with God.

Where you will be set free all the way.

It may have been your father, your mother, your leader, your friend, or your neighbor that brought you to your lowest of lows.

They may have made you a victim but it’s up to you whether you will choose to stay there.

And the only way to say goodbye to the victim mentality?

The only remedy for your endless hurt and pain?

It’s found at the cross of Jesus.

It’s there that He will reveal to you who you really are: no longer a victim or a slave but a precious child of God, redeemed, forgiven, and given a new hope to live with every day.

You are the child of a Father who adores you and has the answer to every problem that you face.

A Father that will deliver your, restore you, and heal you from the pain of your past.

A God that will help you get to the Promised Land.

Today… don’t look at your circumstances and see yourself as a victim, instead look at the cross and see yourself as a beloved child of God.

Created to live a full life of joy, peace, and freedom.

Designed to fulfill a destiny that He has prepared for you.

Be like Joseph and hold onto the promises of Jesus regardless of where you find yourself today.

God came to set all the captives free.

He came to break all of the chains that want to keep you locked up against your own will.

He came to take away all of your burdens, your pain, and your shame.

So don’t cling to it because that’s all you’ve ever known.

Let Him make you whole and give you a new hope.

There’s a freedom and a joy waiting for you if you only stop looking backward and let go.

Don’t be a victim anymore.

Be victorious with the Lord.

 Be blessed and keep walking faithfully with God!  -Anna… ♥

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” –Isaiah 61:1