Unhealed emotional wounds can manifest in a myriad of ways such as: controlling others, lying, dependency on others; chemical, relationship, and other addictions; social anxiety, distrust of others, or acting out in rebellion. At times, guilt over our shortcomings threatens to consume us.
We are tormented day and night because of what we view as our failures. However, God has a remedy for true guilt. He calls us to repentance, and He gives us the inner strength to relinquish control of our life to Him (Ephesians 3:16). God gave us His Word, and He heals our diseases and delivers us from all destructive thoughts and behavior (Psalm 107:20).
Repentance is defined as a humbling of our self before God, an admission of our sinful nature, a heart-felt confession of wrongdoing to God, and a change in our errant behavior. This may be a superficial conviction, which is short-lived. However, true repentance and conversion demonstrates a true and lasting change of heart.
A clean heart results in a sense of relief and peace. God replaces our stress and confusion with His vision and direction. We learn in increments over time to release total control of our life to Him, to surrender to His Lordship over us, and to submit to His wisdom and direction for each moment of our day.
When we allow the Lord to lead us as our Shepherd, we lack nothing that we need. He actually makes us lie down in verdant pastures and leads us to His eternal, living water. He quiets our concerns and refreshes our soul. He guides us along His path for us, and we bring glory to His name (Psalm 23:1-3).
Daily, we feast on His Word, tune in our spiritual ears to His direction, and obey what He tells us to do and to avoid. We hide His Word in our heart, so we will not sin against Him. His words are life to everyone who finds them and health to our whole body. His presence in our spirit heals us in body, soul, and spirit (Proverbs 4:20-22; Luke 6:19).
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for living within us as an ever-present help in our times of need. When we are tempted to worry about the current and future events in our life, our mind whirls in torment and turmoil. This chaos in our soul may paralyze us with fear, or at least trouble our thoughts and emotions. When this occurs, we have difficulty hearing Your voice or finding Your peace within us.
You offer us an escape from this anguish and a release from the paralysis of all our burdens, worries and concerns. We can sincerely pray about our issues, surrender to Your will for us, and leave our concerns in Your capable hands to deal with them. When we do, You flood our soul with Your everlasting peace and joy, and we break out into gales of praises to Your name (James 5:13). We bless You for Your constant watch and care over us.
Thoughts for the Day:
We are happiest when we surrender to God, who is our Help in times of trouble, the Restorer of our hope, the Keeper of every promise He makes to us, and the Righteous Judge who cares about the poor, the oppressed, and the needy in spirit, mind, and body. When we are drowning in worry and anxiety, He gives us consolation in our trials and brings supernatural joy to our soul; and even when we depart from His ways for a time, He knows right where we are, He disciplines us, and He heals us.
- Psalm 94:19, 146:5-9; Isaiah 57:18-19
