A Warehouse or a Factory

We hold onto hurts and we nurse them. We take such good care of them that they become healthier than we are. Pretty soon they take on a life of their own and go out and create more painful memories. In the recesses of our minds are file cabinets alphabetically ordered with every single painful and traumatic event that we have survived thus far.

In fact, those cabinets are so crammed with sorrows that when we open them the memories just come pouring out. If anything else happens to us, we’ll have to buy more file cabinets or rent another floor to store the pain. We’ve become very good at rehearsing the trauma and reenacting the worst details. As if we could forget...

Why do we do that to ourselves? Why do we do that to the people that we love when the memories only serve to put distance between us and separate us from the past and the future that awaits us if only we would let go?

We can continue to let our hearts and minds become warehouses for the past, or make a conscious decision to turn them into robust factories where a future filled with hope can be created. The choice is up to us. Ps. 30:11 says, “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.”

We don’t have to remain in pain and nurse those hurts forever. We can leave them at His feet and pick up the garments of praise, exchanging our sufferings for His joy which will become our strength. Which do you think will fit you better? Make a decision today to walk in the peace that Jesus died to give you.