One reason that addictions are so prevalent in our society
is that people are attempting to anesthetize their pain from past trauma. Until
we face the pain from the past, we will never be free from it. Many fear
experiencing that pain all over again and refuse to address these issues. What
they fail to realize is that the pain already affects them every day of their
life and causes them to react negatively to current circumstances (Psalm
25:17). They are doping instead of coping.
God is able to heal us of any trauma from our past and to
free us to live a victorious future. Pilgrim’s Progress, by Paul Bunyan,
is a story about a man who carries a load of baggage with him everywhere he
goes. Through the story, he brings this baggage to the cross of Christ and
finally lays them down. We do this same thing. We carry emotional baggage that
gets heavier with each day we live. This baggage ends up controlling our
reactions to life.
Satan rages war with us on the battleground of our mind. He
uses our thoughts to infiltrate our soul and to influence our emotions. Then
once he controls our mind and emotions, he can also control our will and our
actions. This is why Paul encourages us to think only on positive thoughts (Philippians
4:8). In order to get rid of Satan’s negative influence and to think only
on positive aspects, we come before the Lord in total surrender and sit quietly
and listen to His voice.
Dismissing any distractions, we submit our negative thoughts
to God’s microscope and use the principles in Part 1 of this series on
Understanding Negative emotions to uncover their root cause. Once we uncover
Satan’s lie, we can walk in God’s truth. This allows our emotional baggage to
fall away. Sure, we will feel negative emotions again, but they will not be
empowered by the pain of our past.
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for offering us a way to discard the
negative emotions of the past, so we are free to walk in Your freedom and power
each day of our life. Help us to concentrate only on whatever is true,
righteous, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians
4:8). Help us to live lives that are so full of holiness that the unsaved
will see our good works and glorify You (Matthew 5:16; 1 Peter 2:12). Allow
Your peace to transport us through any negative circumstance we encounter (Philippians
4:7).
Thought for the Day: Christ in us is our whole life, and we mature to walk in unity with Him. - Colossians 3:4
