Out of Sight But Not Out of Mind

So many of us are living in defeat because we have issues from years gone by that we have never dealt with as they are just too painful to think about. Some of us know about them, have forgiven the ones who hurt us and have chosen to ignore them and pretend they never happened. Others of us don’t even realize that the hurts are there because they’re buried so deep into the cobwebs of our mind. They are hidden from all recollection, and yet every day we live the nightmare of their effects without even knowing it.

So, how do we know that we have unresolved issues that need to be taken care of? Often, we don’t know about them until we begin to analyze some of the things we do. We all have our opinions and attitudes toward various issues, but when one of those issues strikes a key with us and we become defensive or aggressive or sad, we have to wonder why we react that way when it doesn’t bother anyone else.

As we grow in the Lord our thoughts, attitudes and actions should be like those of Jesus, but if they’re not then we need to find out why. The best way to get to the bottom of every single issue in life is to take the matter to God in prayer. Psychologists and psychiatrists are all waiting to hear from us because trauma today is a growing business and we will make their day. But as Christians, the Bible says that the only person we should talk to is Jesus.

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” … 1 Peter 5:7

When we can identify our reactions by comparing them to those of the Lord, then we’re on our way to discovering the problem. But if the problem is buried deep, it’s not going to be a simple answer because it’s not a problem that we are able to easily detect.

Sometimes we need to fast and pray and wait on God for Him to give us the answer, and He WILL give us the answer. But when we get it we may also realize that we’ve opened that door to fear and pain that we had subconsciously locked, and the issue may come at us just as it did years ago when the real issue came at us. The difference between then and now, though, is that Jesus is going to fight it for us; we are no longer alone.

The issue is now in the hands of Jesus and so we need to thank Him for taking it, for defeating it, and for setting us free of it. We need to look at it as something very material that we visually hand to Him and then we need to accept that it’s gone.

But it doesn’t stop there because we need to replace that void with something good or else we’ll find another issue to fill it and bother us. We need to ask God to fill that void with His Spirit. He has set us free from the clutches of the devil and we are no longer under the curse that the world is under and His Spirit is inside us to keep it out.

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” … Galatians 3:13

When we’re hurting from these kinds of things, it’s almost impossible for us to even realize that we have an issue, let alone know how to solve it. In some cases, our reactions are disciplinary issues that come when we haven’t committed that particular thing to the Lord yet. But when we are committed to the Lord and we see that our feelings or reactions are wrong, the only way we are going to understand fully why is to talk to Jesus about it.

He will bring it to light and we’ll remember it all including all the fears and hurts, but He doesn’t do this to hurt us; He does this so we can understand why we’ve reacted the way we have and He does this to get rid of it and to give us closure on it. And when Jesus takes it away, IT IS GONE for good! The devil can no longer play on it because it’s no longer buried inside us and he can’t cause us any more pain.

The Holy Spirit lives inside us and He gives us strength and He reminds us that we belong to God – and there is no one greater or mightier or more defensive of His children than our Heavenly Father. So we don’t need to be afraid anymore because we know that God loves us and cares for us, and nothing else in this whole world is more meaningful than the love of God.