My Personal War StrategySample

DAY TWO: Strength - YOUR PAST CAN MAKE YOU!

It is important to see your past as a rearview mirror, not a reflection.

Outrunning your past can feel like you are running away from your fears, pain, or trauma. The only issue is that life promises triggers that remind us of those moments. In turn, it feels like you’re constantly on the run. Imagine for a moment that you are in an open field running. You are free to occupy any space you desire. As you’re running you brush against a rose bush; its thorns pierce your skin and slow down your stride. From that moment on you never run again because that one scar cut so deep that the danger of thorny places scare you. Notice I said never run again? I didn’t say stop moving altogether. There is a difference between slowing down to assess your environment and choosing to stay stagnant. 

Slowing down to get it right is wisdom. Instead of running with reckless abandon through the field of life, now you’re wisely taking ordered steps, pacing yourself, and smelling the roses without being cut by their thorns. You still want to explore, progress, and experience the world you’re in. Understandably, you just want to do it more carefully and with God at the helm.

When we’re running away from our past, we expose ourselves to the risk of experiencing even more pain because we never slow down long enough to heal from past hurts. There is a difference between never running again and learning to proceed with caution. Confronting your past may require you to slow down but slowing down is not bad. 

Moment of Reflection: Have you ever noticed in scary movies that the villain walks while the victim runs? We have to make sure that we don’t allow our past fears, pain, or traumas to scare us into running. We must take authority over our past, and use it as a tool to make us stronger than ever before. This is where you begin to take personal responsibility over the past so that you can acquire a better strategy for the future. What are some areas of your life that trigger your desire to run rather than walk?

Give God your personal fear and exchange it for God’s power. He wants His perfect power to meet your weakness.

Prayer: God thank you for your strength, for it is made perfect in my weakness. God remove the terrors that try to keep me from the new thing that you are doing in my life. Amen.