Be Encouraged Introduction
As I’ve said, my perspective is grounded in my Christian-faith. I believe God has created us with a divine purpose. The goal of this conversation is to provide a perspective you may not have considered. You may have been told that God doesn’t exist or is a divine entity who is far-off, unapproachable and unconcerned with our day-to-day human condition and issues. Or that God is never to be questioned or doubted, who is intolerant of our past failures or current confusion and solely focused on heavenly pursuits. You may have been told that God has no patience with our bad decisions and doesn’t care about or want to be involved in our messy/chaotic lives. Or maybe you were told nothing at all about God.
The God I’d like to introduce is one who already knows everything about you and loves you anyway. Even though you may have ignored Him, thought you made too many mistakes or bad choices, were not worthy of his love, concern or attention, purposely avoided Him, or even denounced and denied his existence. If you fall into any one of those categories or maybe a category of your own making, God is still anxiously anticipating an encounter with YOU. He just wants an opportunity to speak into your life and to show you who He is. He wants to be present in your everyday life, not just in the good times when you are on your best behavior or in your times of triumph. He also wants to be present in the messy and difficult times of despair and confusion, when your motivations or behavior are questionable. It’s true He wants you to become the best version of yourself, but He’s willing to start right where you are. He’s not looking for instant results, He’s extremely patient with us while we are trying. He knows everything we’ve gone through; He knows our joys and He knows our pain. He’ll help us move forward toward a brighter horizon. He’s not a genie in a bottle where we make a wish, and it magically comes true. We must be willing to participate in our own healing, but He’ll stay there with us while we do. We don’t have to go through it alone, I speak as a person who has gone from episodes of painful trauma to a place of triumph and every stop along the way.
My reason for starting this conversation is simple, straightforward, open and honest. I don’t believe in beating people over the head with the Bible, though it is a valuable and treasured resource in my own life. I also don't believe in tormenting people or myself by focusing on our past mistakes, understanding we've all had the opportunity to be shaped and molded into the best versions of ourselves and fallen short of the challenge. We can ALL reach that goal, but in God's own way and in His own time.
Don't let blame, shame, guilt or regret keep you stuck in a difficult season and prevent you from moving forward. God has already forgiven you and wants to help you, but you must forgive yourself and others and be willing to boldly move forward. My Mother taught me that we should never cease to learn about God and ourselves as we develop a deeper relationship with Him, the lessons last a lifetime. I believe we get stagnant in our growth because we are more focused on looking for someone to blame for our current condition rather than recognizing our own faults and brokenness. Sometimes, we are in a difficult season that is not of our own making. I also know that sometimes we make questionable decisions that contribute to or create a difficult season of life. Either way, I believe trusting God, being honest with ourselves and holding ourselves accountable are the keys to reaching a divine resolution.
You must be ready to confront the stumbling blocks that have hidden in the shadows of your mind and haunted your memories, for years. You must know that you will have to push through some barriers of pain and trauma as well as the lies we’ve been told, in addition to the lies we’ve told ourselves, because true freedom is beyond those barriers. Martin Luther King said it best, "No lie can live forever".
