“Emotional healing is not so much a level to reach as it is a way of thinking you choose. It’s admitting you might be thinking about this wrong. Is there another way? There’s always another way. A better place to park. . . . A way forward and onward, a future to find. We can treasure what was and leave the rest behind.”- Lysa TerKeurst
“We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”- Romans 3:3-5 (NIV)
Lysa TerKeurst concludes Chapter 7 of Forgiving What You Can’t Forget as she encourages us to look for life lessons. To collect life lessons instead of grudges. Next, Lysa presents questions that helped her reframe her story. To see her story from a different vantage point. For example, Lysa processed her suffering through this truth: God never wastes our suffering. Through this process, Lysa asked:
- What could a healthy version of me be empowered to do from here?
- How can this hurt make me better, not worse?
- What might God be giving or revealing to me through this that I couldn’t have received before?
Above all, Lysa observes, answers may not reveal themselves in one long session of asking yourself questions. Instead, these revelations may come with time and in unexpected ways. Perhaps listening to a sermon or through a song.
Lysa closes with these encouraging words:
“You must empty enough so you can shift from griever to receiver. The new healing you discover will be wonderful, but it probably won’t give you answers for why all this hurt happened. Making peace with the past doesn’t mean you’ll ever be able to make sense of what happened. Good thing there’s something better than answers.”
Today’s question: What Bible verses enable your emotional healing? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Grieving is dreaming in reverse”
