The heart can be hurt many times over in the span of one lifetime. It can be damaged by others who treat you less than you deserve to be treated, or it can be cut by someone who lied to you, we can do damage to ourselves by believing the lies we are told, or we can harm ourselves physically because of pain. We all go through some amount of pain, some more than others. Pain and hurt are a part of life. But what we sometimes don’t understand is that we are never meant to stay there in the hurt, we are meant to climb our way back out of that darkness. And there, that moment of realizing that you have had enough, that you are done living in this pit, this hole that has been dug either by ourselves or someone else, that is the moment we can begin our journey back up.
All of our lives proceed differently after we are born. There are two loving parents, one loving parent, being adopted, being put in a home momentarily before going to another, then another. There is the beginning that is full of light, love, laughter and beautiful memories. Or the childhood of living on the streets with a parent who doesn’t even know how to take care of themselves let alone a child. There is the childhood where parents die, and a family member takes you in. Every single journey is different. God has written a story for each of us. Unique, individual, just for us. But there is not one, not even one, that is without its hardships and pain. We all have the choice when we go through those hard moments to change. To begin to do something different. We cannot change the way we were brought into this world. We cannot change what other people did to us when we were too young to defend ourselves. We cannot change the hurt that has been done to our hearts. But we can change the way we react to our life. We have the choice to either stay in our darkness or we can begin to climb. And neither choice is easy, and God will be with us either way, but God hopes you will choose the latter. God is rooting for us and waiting for us to make that climbing decision. The one that says, “I will not stay here.”
One of the best examples of this mindset, the “I’m climbing up” mindset, is Joseph. We read his story and my goodness we can see without a doubt he has been through some things. A favorite of his fathers since birth, he was treated wonderful. But he had some jealous brothers who got sick of his favored life and decided to take his life into their own hands. Throwing him into a pit to die, then selling him off to the enemy. So begins the roller-coaster that is his life. He ends up in the pharaoh’s home and was treated well there, until Podifer, the pharaoh’s wife, tricks him and poor Joseph ends up in prison, back down he goes. While in prison he helps interpret dreams, with God’s help of course, and he is told his gifts will be talked about to Pharaoh but then he is forgotten in prison. He stays there for a few years before being released because his gifts are remembered. He climbs back up. It is then that he moves up, up, up. Until he reaches a point of being second in command in Egypt. And one day his brother come to him for help and bow before him. But here’s where Joseph’s love is shown, rather than hating his brothers and punishing them as he could, he ends up moving them and his father to Egypt with him to live forever. He shows mercy and kindness though they treated him horribly in his past. That is where God wants for us to get. Do you think God ever left Joseph’s side even in prison? No. He was right there carving the path of Joseph’s life. But we all must go through a little pain in order to understand where God is in our story.
Wherever you might be in your story, whether at the bottom of the hole, like Joseph, or working through pain and hurts from your past or present, God is right there beside you, waiting for you to grasp your climbing moment. And when you do, He isn’t going to leave you, but He will guide you through your journey of healing. It’s a journey we all should take. If you need some inspiration from other lives that have gone through this journey, pick up your bible, begin reading because God isn’t new to this healing business, He has been at it for a long time and He doesn’t plan on stopping on behalf of you. Your pain isn’t too great, your sin isn’t too heavy, your hurt isn’t too deep for Him not to be able to heal. Look up, grab the hand reaching down to you, and step into your climbing moment.
He gives us Roots so we can Fly. Roots and Wings.
