He was young but seemed so old. His parents were done with him. They told him that it wasn't anything specific; it was everything in general about their life as parents. They left. I mean moved-to-another-state kind-of-left. He felt dead to them. He stayed with one person after another. Until. He got into trouble. Big trouble. The state took care of him for awhile. And, then, my friends took him in. The state considered them to be his last hope. The thing is . . . they gave him hope for the first time . . . and it was in the gift of hope that began to change his life.
His story could belong to so many; however, it was his to own, as difficult and hurtful as it was. Whether we want it or not, hurt is a part of our story.
Hurt, the kind that invades into the place others can't see, the inner you, becomes part of our identity. It will change you. It will make you weak but can be used to make you stronger. It will drop you into a deep dark abyss where you are lost and far from who you want to be but can used to push you to the mountaintop where you stand with surprising strength. Sometimes we find ourselves in the deep dark abyss and realize, if, we don't find a way to climb up, then, we will never come near to the mountain, let alone climb to the mountaintop. Hurt is a dynamic force in life that can pull us down or can be used to push us up.One thing I know, and have experienced, is with the power of God hurt can be used to make us stronger and push us to the mountaintop. It is a choice to live a life pulled down by hurt or freed in the power that will push us forward, the same power revealed when Christ overcame death and, since then, has been traced throughout history, which has saved the unsalvageable, redeemed the worst of the worst, brought hope to the hopeless, changed the impossible to possible, and breathed new life into what was left for dead. It is the power that not only pushes us out of the abyss to make our way to the mountaintop but frees us from ever going back to it.
Consider.
But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3: 16-17, NIV).Freedom, the kind that is beyond what we can do for ourselves, can be found through Christ. He powerfully frees us to live the best life, using all of our experiences, even the most hurtful. The veil has been removed. We are freed from the hurt and harm of this world when we live in the power of the Spirit.
Intentionally live in the power of the Spirit.
Take a time out.
Determine how hurt has gripped you.
Surrender everything to Christ.
Experience the power of freedom as you climb out of the abyss and make your way to the mountaintop.
Learning to Kickstart the day in the freedom of the Spirit,
Kerrie
(written by Kerrie Carlisle Palmer © 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)