The story isn’t over if the story isn’t good.
I don’t like emotional pain.
Honestly, I’d rather break my leg. The path to healing is straight forward - go to doctor - get cast - heal in 2 months - take cast off - walk around again like it never happened.
But emotional pain has staying power. The injury cuts deep into our heart making the healing much harder. Sometimes I don’t even know where to start.
I want to be the gracious person at the cross, but I’m stuck in the pain at Gethsemane.
And because it’s so painful, we medicate it with whatever preferred drug of distraction we can find until we’re too numb to feel it anymore. And we walk through life at half pace.
Shame is emotional pain that won’t let go. It disconnects us from who we really are and the life we are truly meant to be living.
We have to stop letting shame define who we are and how our story is written. It seems sin and shame are inescapable in a fallen world, so we start managing this debilitating emotion like a chronic illness we’ve been diagnosed with instead of looking for real healing.
Shame says it’s too late. That we can only manage the symptoms.
Jesus says he’s writing a new story. That he’s coming to rip out the root of the problem.
It’s true that our present is shaped by our past, but it doesn’t have to determine our future.
What if your life could completely change going forward? Not all at once, but slowly as you heal into the true and full self you were always meant to be.
What if the weight you’ve been carrying around could be lifted? Again, slowly as you stop bearing the burdens of sin strapped on top of your shoulders.
What would happen if you lived as if you were fully loved? As you begin again to open your heart to Jesus as he does the slow and steady work of transforming your heart into one more like his.
Don’t run from your pain.
Don’t numb your pain.
Let Jesus heal you.
Because our God is one of resurrection power - the one who opens our eyes and ushers us into our real selves. Our healed selves. Our whole selves.
He doesn’t want us slowed down by shame. He wants us running in real life.
Pick up the pace as you move towards Jesus.
Because your story isn’t over if your story isn’t good.
And come worship with me in the house of the Ultimate Healer. Details below.
love,
vanessa