31 Days of Hindsight: Day 9

Day 9 is almost over, but not quite!  I am so glad you are still taking this hindsight journey with me, and I pray you are doing your own year-end review.  Remember, hindsight is a good teacher.  “He” is humorous, humbling and honest, if we are looking through the correct lens, the lens of Christ, not our own distorted human one.

Our human hindsight has a tendency to glorify or demonize some things, regardless of the accuracy of a memory.  Perceived reality really does become reality, if we allow it.

When we look back, do we ask God to show us HIS perspective, so we can glean, grow and go forward or do we just go back to relive the good and rehearse the bad, sending us into :

the “Woo hoo” glory days

or the “woe as me” gut wrenching days,

neither of which is accurate or good soil to grow in?

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31 Days of Hindsight: Day 9

I am going to keep this lesson-learned short and sweet, but profound, nonetheless.  Continuing on in the Book of Ruth last March, I saw a prime example of a distorted rearview mirror. (I could not stop taking notes on Ruth’s story.) Naomi remembers the “good old days” as:

“I went away full…”;

yet, she had originally left because of famine. Now, she is unraveling in the present,:

“…but the Lord has brought me back empty…”;

yet, Ruth is standing right beside her and the famine is over!

GOLDEN NUGGET NUMBER 1: When we have a distorted view of the past, we will have a messed up view of the present.

Checking our rearview mirror, how are we doing?

Is that view propelling us forward into a promising future, paralyzing us in a pitiful present or dragging us back in bitter backsliding?

GOLDEN NUGGET NUMBER 2:  We will miss the harvest right in front of us, if we stay fixated on the famine.

**If we stay focused on WHAT WAS, we will never see WHAT IS and eventually, we will lose WHAT IS because of WHAT WAS.

Are we fixated on the famine (The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…) or focused on the full (…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.)  (John 10:10 NIV)

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31 Days of Hindsight: Day 9

As I penned the above paragraph full of HINDSIGHT GOLD, I am heading to bed after the first night of FREEDOM CONFERENCE!  In a nut shell, FREEDOM CONFERENCE, is a 2 day intense review of our lives, asking God to give us HIS perspective on our history, and then allowing the Holy Spirit to free us from 7 different areas of bondage:

pride & greed,

rejection,

lust,

shame,

abuse,

fear,

and anger, heaviness & depression.

I would say my “present” is lining up with the lessons gleaned from this past year. The timing is no coincidence, that I would be in this part of my old journals, exactly when I am at a FREEDOM RETREAT!

I am actually serving at conference this year, but the remembrance of my freedom story always brings me to “good” tears.  Christ has truly delivered and continues to deliver me from the schemes the enemy want to use against me, and Christ will do the same for you, if you ask HIM.

Tonight we only tackled the chains of pride & greed, and rejection.  As I was praying, I realized the enemy had done a number on me this past year, regarding rejection.  You see, my dad died when I was 21 and my mom died in 2013.  I have had this nagging pain, on and off, for months, a pain labeling me ORPHAN.  I heard a voice in my head saying, “Since you don’t have parents, you don’t have anyone who loves you unconditionally. Since you don’t have parent, you can be marked off everyone else’s list with one little mess up. Rejection is coming, so you better get ready.” (What a lovely whisper I heard on repeat screaming in my ear this last year!)

BUT TONIGHT I WAS REMINDED OF GOD’S TRUTH, which trumps the truth that, truly  my parents are gone. BUT GOD SAID… (Let these truths wash over you too! )

Ruth was a widow, with none of her blood relatives, and a mother-in-law complaining about her own emptiness, even while Ruth stood right beside her-what a slap in the face. I would say this is a perfect storm for one to believe they are rejected and irredeemable.

BUT GOD…

Sent Boaz to provide, protect and redeem the irredeemable. Naomi said, “…blessed is the man who took notice of you.” Boaz reflects the heart of the Father by “seeing” what most would overlook and he is a picture of “Christ as Redeemer.”

Last hindsight take-away regarding my own life:

My dad met Jay, my husband of 24 years now, just 3 months before he passed away.  It is as if God allowed my dad to meet the man who would provide, protect and redeem me, giving me a new name, after he went home to be with the Lord.  Jay is my “Boaz.” Jay reflected the heart of the Father by “seeing” all of me, the good, bad and ugly, and wanted me anyway.

Who are the people God has placed in your path, in order to REFLECT HIM?

**Remember, Naomi was missing the harvest right in front of her because she was fixated on the famine. Take your eyes off the famine and look for the FULL; it is there!

That is a snippet of my story and I pray it encourages you. Ask God to give you HIS eyes and HE will give you fresh focus on your past, to position you to glean and grow in your present, and then go into your future, 2017 and beyond!

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Declaration against Rejection:

I am blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.  If God is for me, who can be against me? I am chosen by God. He has not rejected me!  God loves me so much that He gave His only Son for me.

He chose me and appointed me to bear good fruit.  God contends with those who contend with me. Spirits of rejection come at me in one direction, but flee in seven! I am holy and blameless.  I am redeemed through the blood of Jesus.

I have the spirit of wisdom and revelation. I am an heir of heaven. I am seated in heavenly places. I am God’s workmanship.  I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  I am a new creation. I am a citizen of Heaven. I am rooted and grounded in love. I am more than a conqueror. I am an overcomer. I am healed. I am free!  Lord, everything You say about me is true!

Amen