The common saying that applies to
Physics, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction” taught me a lot lately.
In life, its version is, “Every choice you make has a consequence”.
Consequences that as we make the decisions, do not deeply get through inside us
not until we experience the consequence that comes along with it. Some of these
consequences are good because they sharpen our being and they strengthen our
faith. But often they come in bad shape, in times we don’t expect them the most
and in seasons where you are not so ready to receive them.
We
all experience consequences either way. We all face pain and brokenness.
Brokenness that I for one really shaped who I am—partly good and partly bad I
might say. Our instant reaction when we undergo family problems such as when
our parents choose to separate entirely and the children for some reasons are
left hanging and become “possessions” is angry and confusion while your parents
on the other hand, try their very best fighting for their own rights to live
with you and your siblings. Many cases last in courts technically always ending
up on their mother’s care. For that, I couldn’t be more thankful to my mom who
lasts longer than I thought—fought really hard to be with us. So we and I especially,
grew up very dependent to her. She does not only fill up her responsibilities
to each of us but became a mother whose love for us is very much evident and a
best friend to me as well who’s been always there no matter how distant we are
to each other.
Through
time, I adjusted just fine without a father. The consequence of my parents
separating made me mature earlier than a child’s progress should be. And it was
good. I learned to see things differently. I need to choose the ‘right thing’
that I consider right at the moment even though there were times I chose badly,
it was worth it. Every fleeting second, I need to expand my view of everything
because I am the eldest among us leading me accountable (somehow) for my
siblings.
But
we could never eliminate the fact that things could change; things could happen
we never have imagined. Yet, they happen.Awful things can happen. And the
changes cause massively in one’s life. Its effect smashes your inmost self.
Hence you pray you shouldn’t have done it in the first place but there’s no way
you could revert the outcome, there’s no way you could turn back time. Thus, I
decided to move forward. To find the path where I could look back and find no
regret, certainty and boldness.
As
I look back, I remember meeting Someone for the very first time. I was in an
awful status at the time—full of shame, timidity and unforgiveness. Suddenly I
realized, this Person accepted me wholly in spite of the errors He found in me.
He demonstrates His affection for an entirely unworthy individual like me every
day by not spoiling me—giving everything that I desire and demand from Him. It
fell into place so perfectly that He has to allow awful things to break my
heart sometime so His heart can come in, time and time again, otherwise my
heart would be harden and the love being given to me would grow cold. At the
end of the day, the essence of the gospel is acceptance. Everybody has a part
to play in crisis times. Though every so often He is silent we wished He was
not, our silence too is deafening. I believe there are no easy answers.
Sometimes in puzzling moments, we need a whole lot more than an explanation or,
a platitude is examination—finding the root; examining our own hearts.
Moreover,
Matthew 7:9-12 says, one of the good gifts
our fathers passed on to us is perspective
(what they model how to think). It always starts with the heart. When
people exclaims, ‘that is how she/he is’, know that they are relatively true.
What does not heal gets handed down. That is why God intervenes in our lives
and He intercepts what we are being handed by others and He transforms them. In
God, “it is not just a momentary transformation with relief but a systemic
transformation with relation that makes the difference in people’s lives”. When
a heart is being transformed, you eventually leave the hate how may be your
loved one distrust you now because it is a venomous poison (a toxic religion)
if you can love God and hate those who caused your heartache. Steven Furtick, a
senior pastor at Elevation Church even stated: You have no use for religion and neither does God, neither does the
world around you could claim to love God that you cannot even see then hate
your brothers and sisters every day that you can see.What is hateful to
you, do not do unto others. Live in obedience, love and righteousness. Until
you are proactive about doing for others what you wish someone would do for
you, until you do it, you don’t have it—not real love. What we need is a
theological heart prepared to be change.
Take
heart. When you are hanging a symbol of hate, you sure have a problem with
what’s in your heart. You will never understand it until you open up your heart
to it. Our heart can cause tremendous devastation or, can bring a great
healing. You better choose wisely since what happens in one heart and mind
matters, the conversation that we participate in matters (explicitly or
implicitly). Here is why: When you give
God your doubtful heart, even your darkness, there is an exchange that happens
at the foot of the Cross. God has a way to fill a heart of love that was
filled with hate. Having a knowledge of these, talk to God and ask Him such as,
“God,
what is in me that I am handing on that needs to stop and needs an exchange?” After
all, the GOSPEL was and is the exchange.
We
give God our sins, He gives us His righteousness. We hand Him our shame, He
hands us back with righteousness. With God, regrets can turn to hope and a
future; transgressions lead to the Cross.
You may still find condemned for
what happened to you that you badly want to fix what was broken and put back
together the pieces to turn it back into one piece. Whereas, you have faith that God is able and can heal a broken heart
but be aware that before He does it, He has to have all the pieces first.
So expose your heart, are you geared up to give every fragment to Him?
Even more, isn’t it as much as
important to question yourself also..
Which way are you turning to and whose hands are you holding on?
*All attached photos are credits from google.
