It’s time to move past your pain, accept His forgiveness and change your future. When God breathes in your direction, closed doors fly open. You have a promised purpose, and only you can fulfill it.
My divorce, especially the second one, was supposed to disqualify me from ministry. When my family’s denomination banished me to hell on a Slip ‘N Slide, it did not realize I was already in the hell I created for myself. We know hell as a place of perpetual torment and misery. My life was full of both. I realize that no “hell on earth” compares with the hell of eternity, but I can testify that my life was one miserable day followed by another. I had no peace and no joy. My self-esteem and identity were lost. I was lost.
It was the darkest season I had ever experienced, and I could not find my way out. Although I had experienced God many times in my life, I had never allowed Him to become a permanent resident in my heart. I used Him and abused Him, calling on Him when I needed Him but forsaking Him when times were good.
It took losing myself to find myself. I wanted to find a new me. Even I disliked the person I had become. I was so hardened by the cares of life and so reactive to every situation that I would not let anyone penetrate my heart. It was time to take care of me. I had been hurt so many times that I believed I was He only one I could trust. Yet secretly I wasn’t sure I could trust myself.
When I looked in the mirror, I could not believe who I had become. The person staring back at me knew that some people really loved her and wanted to be there for her. Yet she had locked herself so deep in a realm of bitterness and anger that she could not break free.
Finally, I had to come to the end of myself, my feelings and my beliefs. What did I really know about life? I had failed at two marriages, even after being raised to know that marriage was sacred. At the same time, I knew that God had deliberately blessed me. So I began thanking Him for His goodness to me, my boys and my family.
It was still difficult to understand how anyone (especially God) could love the person I had become. Yet at just the right moments, He brought into my life select people who believed in comebacks and makeovers. Through them, God showed me that, against all odds, I could become a person full of peace with a heart of flesh.
Gradually, He seasoned my heart of stone with love so I could learn to love others. I realize now that loving others means you must risk being hurt. No one is perfect. There will be times of disappointment and failure. Yet I discovered that I could walk in the forgiveness that allowed me to love others appropriately.
What I discovered through this process was a greater, more powerful, and more anointed me—the person God had ordained me to be before the foundation of the world. I believe that the enemy knew my purpose, which was written in God’s book long before I was born. As the psalmist said, “My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and intricately put together in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw me unformed, yet in Your book all my days were written, before any of them came into being” (Ps.139:15-16).
I took those words personally!
You too have been called to a purpose by God. You are uniquely formed and are unlike anyone else. The enemy of your future has been trying to keep you bound in order to steal your focus and prevent you from walking in your destiny. You don’t have to let him.
Today, I am so excited to know that I walked through living hell and came out of it on fire. Even better, I know that if I can be free from all the bondages I allowed to overtake me, you can
Adapted from When Your Bad Meets His Good by Kimberly Jones-Pothier, copyright 2018, published by Charisma House. Having lived through some horrendous situations, the author shares how after reaching rock bottom, God rescued her and changed her life from a mess to a message. He can do the same for you. To order your copy of this inspiring book, click on this link.
Prayer Power for the Week of April 21, 2019
After this past Holy Week and our celebration of Resurrection Sunday, thank God once again that His Son, Jesus, gave His life and shed His blood for us, so that we could enjoy eternal life and a powerful overcoming life here on earth. Continue to pray for world-wide revival beginning in our own country. Pray for our leaders as they make decisions affecting us and the entire world. Read: 2 Chronicles 7:14, John 3:16.
For more from Real Talk Kim about how God can turn your mess into a message, listen to the podcast below!
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