Be Still: 30 Devotions for the Hopeful HeartSample

No Time for Resentment

Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; but you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. ISAIAH 54:4 NASB

We should be used to it. It is not a new trick or an impressive switch of strategy. Isn’t this what happens every time we begin to ignite change in our lives or seek to form a new perspective? As soon as we turn a corner, set new goals, or establish a fresh mindset, it starts to feel as if we’re being sabotaged from every angle. Whether it is new frustrations, unforeseen life events, or shameful feelings from our past, something starts to stand in our way—causing us to give up on our efforts for change.

And while we know it is not good for us, sometimes choosing to live in what should have been is easier than dealing with the present. It is more comfortable to hold onto what’s hurt us, to make others pay for the wrongs they’ve extended to us, or to remain in our shame and our own self-resentment for the mistakes we’ve made. We give into temptation letting it become a pattern, and before we realize it we’ve let our present be compromised by the mistakes of our past.

But we have a greater hope. We have no time for resentment because we are too busy singing praises to God. Our eyes have a light in them because we are children of the Most High God; we have places to go and people to reach.

As we approach our day today, let us throw off everything that entangles us. We are chosen and equipped—may we see ourselves as so.

Dear Jesus, thank You for offering us a clean slate with every day that passes. Your grace really is more than enough. Help us let go of any resentment we hold against ourselves or others. Thank You for the opportunity to run confidently in You. In Jesus’s name, amen.