Down Is Not My DestinySample

DON’T LET YOUR PAST PUSH YOU INTO ISOLATION!

When we become the victim of someone else’s evil deeds or mistakes, we can often be tempted to withdraw from others and disconnect ourselves from the resources we desperately need to recover and heal properly. If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves heading straight to a spiritual, emotional, and sometimes even physical place of isolation.

Look at where Mephibosheth ended up in today’s reading. When Mephibosheth’s nurse heard that his grandfather, King Saul, and his father, Prince Jonathan, had died in battle, she panicked. She accidentally dropped him as she ran to escape, and he became lame in both feet. Fast forward several years later, when David becomes king, the caretakers of Mephibosheth moved to a place called Lo Debar. The name “Lo Debar” means “barren place” or “place of no pasture.” It was a place devoid of grasses and grains. It was a place with a shortage of water and a scarcity of natural resources. It was a place characterized by unproductive soil. It was a place that offered little shelter and very little sustenance.

Spiritually speaking, whenever you embrace a victim mentality and withdraw to isolation from the Lord and others, you always run the risk of being in a spiritual Lo Debar, a place of emptiness, loneliness, aimlessness, and a loss of vibrant fellowship with God.

The good news is, if you humble yourself before God, trust Him, connect in fellowship with other Christian believers, and stand on the promises of God, He will replace the dry places in your heart with His refreshing and reinvigorating Presence. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 2:14,

“Now thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ…”

Finding victory over the victim mentality requires rejecting isolation and immersing ourselves in a Christian faith community. Our faith can be strengthened, our hope renewed, and we can find the help and support we need to persevere and overcome.

PERSONAL REFLECTION: Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us to “…forsake not the assembling of ourselves together.” Today, reach out to a Christian brother or sister for fellowship and mutual encouragement.