“I know there’s pain. Why do you lock yourself up in these chains?”
- Wilson Phillips, “Hold On”
That unconquerable spirit in us does not break. God can use things like people, movies, music, books (Hint: The Bible is a best seller, just saying), posts on social media (you know all those inspirational quote memes, people sharing their own stories), to inspire, to encourage you.
But I would give you a few things to ask yourself before taking something you read, heard or saw and running with it. You need to ask:
1. Does this align with God’s Word?
2. Is this my interpretation or what God is speaking?
- This is when you have to ask yourself: what is your motivation?
3. Were you seeking a specific answer?
4. Are you bending what you read/heard/saw to fit your will, your desires?
5. Have you spoken with Godly people in your life?
6. And did you pray about it?
I say this to you out of experience. I have made some decisions and choices in my life by doing many of the things above. I have bent the meaning of things, not aligned them with scripture, and knew I was seeking something specific and went looking for the “yes” answer. This is where I made bad choices and decisions. This is where I made my big mistakes.
Hope is the road to our happily ever after. It keeps us going when we want to give up.
Now, I do love my romance comedy movies and the one that comes to mind here is Confessions of a Shopaholic in which the main character has amassed a small fortune in debt. She continues to struggle with spending money throughout the film until she loses something (actually someone) more important to her than all the material possessions she had collected. She learned a hard lesson and I think we all relate to that. In pursuing our own desires, our own dreams without seeking God first in all ways, we make mistakes. And sometimes those mistakes are big. Huge. Insurmountable in our minds. We take paths we were never meant to take and find out we are lost. And like the shopaholic girl turning to her parents for help, we can to turn to our Father who will provide a way.
“Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path.”
- Psalms 119:105
Go back to the Word and seek Him there. Let Him speak to you with your barriers down and your heart open. He can guide you to a new road that will take you on the journey He has for you.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
- Jeremiah 29:11
Hope is the road to our happily ever after. It keeps us going when we want to give up. It is the knot at the end of the rope that we cling to so we don’t fall. And God gives us that. In so many ways and so many opportunities. Take the hope God offers and find out where He is bringing you.
This does mean you have to learn to forgive yourself. If you don’t, Satan will surely continue to use the guilt behind your un-forgiveness and you won’t be truly free of your past. God has already forgiven you. If your Creator has, why can’t you? Let it go and move towards His plans for you.
“There is great power in letting go, and there is great freedom in moving on.”
- Author Unknown
Questions and Challenges:
- What was a time you thought you were listening to God, but may have not truly listened?
- Practice using the suggestions mentioned above in seeking an answer to something you have prayed about recently.
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