When Enough is Enough

C.S Lewis says, “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”

Letting go of a painful experience is the fastest way to give birth to something bigger and better. You’ve got to let go sometime in order to move on or you can choose to stay stagnant and watch others pass you by. Holding on to a painful experience is like sitting on a plane and refusing to get off at your destination. Satan’s greatest joy is keeping us attached to pain. He has fun playing with our thoughts and reading our handwritten diaries… the ones we keep under lock and key.  He controls everything that we keep hidden in our minds too. Satan is the biggest con-artist that tricks us into believing that life is not worth living after a traumatic encounter.

How long is too long to hold on to painful experiences? When it becomes part of who we are. When we take subtle pride in being a victim and wearing the badge to prove it. When we own the rights to repeating those sad stories that make others cry…coupled with the fact that we unintentionally enjoy the sympathy and attention that comes along with it.

Reliving bad experiences is like drinking from a poisonous substance first and last thing every day of your life. You are slowly killing yourself while thinking you are pouring the deadly substance down the other person’s throat. 

Ecclesiastes 10:8 says,”When you are too lazy to repair your roof, it will leak, and the house will fall in.” Lazy means unwilling to work or use energy. If you think that you don’t have the energy to rebuild again … sadness and remorse will move right in and take up permanent residence. You will become an abandoned building. The lights are on but no one is living there. We must be ready to put in the work to live, laugh and love again.

God likes us to be real because He knows that we are humans — we are weak, we get angry and we become tired of holding on. He certainly isn’t impressed with a flawless performance either … but in our weaknesses … He comes along and strengthens us if we are willing to get up and build again. He sees us for who we can become…not for who we are when we are wounded.

If we ask God for a fresh wind in our sails…He steps right in ready to assist in building our dream life. Shattered lives are the lives that are ready to be loved by a compassionate and caring Heavenly Father. He gives us permission to ask Him our toughest questions…but it’s important to read the answers that are written in His Word. Without one doubt, we will laugh again.if only we would believe. 

Dear God, I know that there is nothing too difficult for you to do. You can do anything but fail. Your gentle hand has held me many times when I was broken. I ask you to strengthen my fellow human beings who have fallen below the weight of pain and unforgiveness. With us everything looks impossible, but with you all things are possible. Please give us the strength to build again.” In Jesus’ Name, Amen!