Why we can rise above our reaction to the events of a long time ago

By Dean Collins

Every day we are impacted positively and negatively by things that happened a long time ago. Our minds create a narrative about these experiences. Sometimes these narratives are true, and sometimes they are the stories we created to get through our difficult experiences. But true or not, the feelings they generate are very real and powerful.

Old memories

My parents separated when I was 16 and divorced when I was 17. The seeds of their broken marriage were sown 10 or more years earlier. I didn’t know or understand these earlier events when I was 16, yet I was impacted by them in significant ways. While I have thought much about these events and their impact on me and I have processed them with family members and therapists, some things about my parents’ relationship I don’t fully understand. And actually, I have discovered I don’t need to understand.

What I am sure of is that my parents never intentionally meant to harm me or any of my siblings as they navigated their marriage. I have learned to value the good things I received from my parents. I’ve also learned the benefits of forgiveness.

One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned is how God uses even devastating events and brings good through them. The enemy of God seeks to use our difficulties and our emotions against us because he knows by doing so he can temporarily interrupt our spiritual and even our physical health. His goal is to bring more destruction.

Words of life

As I read Isaiah 54 this morning, it struck me how God’s children believed they would never see a better day; they thought God had abandoned them forever. Living away from your homeland and having your family life disrupted, work life changed, and freedoms hindered can cause you to feel hopeless and deserted. God spoke words of life through Isaiah in such a moment.

Isaiah’s instructions were to sing and shout praises to God because God was reversing their situation. There would be new life for those in exile. Babies would be born. There would be new places to live where you could spread out and enjoy the land. God’s children were told to let go of their fear and shame. They would no longer know disgrace. God was their creator, their father, their spouse, and their redeemer.

They may have felt abandoned and discarded, but they didn’t know or see all that God was doing. Yes, their feelings were real and their experiences had been difficult, even painful. But in the scope of God’s timeline and with what they were about to experience, they would come to realize the goodness, the power, and the fullness of joy in what was coming.

Loss and a Savior

God gets blamed for a lot of things we don’t understand. It’s normal to transfer our anger with God toward others. Part of our good news is that he can handle it with grace and love and will never strike back at us for our feelings or our limited understanding. And if we watch, we will see God’s compassion poured out on us and on our situations.

We know from our view of history that God was good to his people and their territory was expanded so much that it now includes you and me. From what appeared to be complete loss, God brought forth a Savior for the world. He demonstrated that his Word was good and true. Renewal began with Jesus and goes forward now and will continue until all things are restored when Jesus returns.

As chapter 54 comes to a close, it makes precious promises that remain for us even today. Righteousness has been established in Christ, and as we embrace the lordship of Jesus, we bring his righteousness forward for others. Others may stir up problems and challenges to bring harm, but these are not from God. And even as we experience attacks, God will use them to accomplish his greater good. He has secured our victory.

Victory secured

The final verse is important to remember, to cling to, and to pray boldly: “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”

The Lord himself has secured and declared our victory. Not even death can defeat the victory that is ours in Jesus!

Whatever you are feeling about past and even present circumstances, remember God sees more and is doing more than may appear obvious. Hold on to him. He will deliver us through it all and for our good and his glory.

Your time with God’s Word
Isaiah‬ ‭54:1-17; ‬ ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:50-55, 57-58 ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by Yannes Kiefer on Unsplash

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