OVERCOMING THE PAINS OF THE PAST

Upon publishing the last post titled 'Tribute to a loved one' I realised that a large number of persons are still weighed by the pains of the past. Some are weighed down by the death of their loved ones, failed relationships, failed businesses, broken marriages, betrayer, failure and so on. Somehow, they have carried it over the years. In fact, it is seriously telling on them and they have practically paused their lives in a bid to keep licking their wounds. I very much understand how much the pains of the past discolour our future and taints our present. But I am here to give you hope, to speak life and to tell you that you can rise above the limitations of the past.

What is a past? The Encarta Dictionary defines it thus, ‘the time before the present or the events that happened during that time’. Your past is your past, whether good or bad, it is something that happened before now. Why then do we allow our past determine our present and worse still, our future? Now is the time to overcome it, and now is the time you would overcome it. So let’s cut the chase and get straight to the point. HOW DO WE OVERCOME OUR PASTS?

MEET A GODLY COUNSELOR: If you feel you can’t handle the weight of your past alone. There is a healing balm in sharing your burden with matured people who would stand by you and help you through it. You might need to have a prayer partner that would pray with you and help you through the process.

MIX WITH PEOPLE: Most people live in isolation because of what they feel the society thinks about them. They are so wrapped up in their past that they fail to move on. They wear their past like a badge of ‘honour’, they put on a garment of shame so filthy that a person meeting them for the first time takes to his heels because he knows there is something seriously wrong with them. Mix with the right friends, make sure you are always around people that builds you up.You can change your environment if you feel that your present environment reminds you too much of your past. And when you change your environment, make new friends.


CHANNEL YOUR TIME: Channel your time and energy into something more profitable. Refuse to be idle because an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. Don’t allow the devil mess with you because of your past. Do you know that some of the greatest people in the world found their talents after a very depressive past? Some of them were even at the verge of committing suicide when they saw the newness of life, so don’t give up. Get engaged with something meaningful, learn a trade, read quality books, listen to quality songs that boosts your morale and also subscribe to blogs like THE WINNING GENERATION BLOGSPOT.

LEARN FROM YOUR PAST: When you learn from your past, it propels you to take the right decisions and gives you an opportunity for you to rewrite your past. Your future is in your hands and you can take charge of it. Don’t ever, ever allow your past take charge of your future. What is past is past, what is gone is gone, what is done is done. Right now, all that you have is a new lease at life. Make the best out of it. Talk about your past, share your experience with the aim of helping others out of it. Some of us are so private that we can’t let others into our past. When bad things happen to you, just know that God is trying to make a powerful ‘message’ out of your ‘mess’ and a powerful ‘testimony’ out of your ‘test’. Don’t be afraid to talk about your past, it relieves you of the burden of carrying in in your heart alone plus, you are able to set others free too.

THE WORD: Don’t let the devil steal your joy. He would always bring images of your past to your head. He makes you remember every gory detail of your past, but you must make up your mind to be victorious. Phil 4: 8 tells us what to always think about. The bible admonishes us to only think about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, praise worthy and of good report. The only way you can win the battle of the mind is for you to always guard your heart with all diligence. You must be willing to renew your mind everyday with the word of God. When the devil brings back images of how you lost all your family members in that accident or how the man you loved so much and aborted seven times for him told you to your face that he is no more interested, rather than cry and allow depression take its toil on you, declare the word! Tell yourself and everyone who cares to listen that lines are falling unto you in pleasant places.
Run to God, lean on Him, cry on Him. Tell Him everything that is bothering you or that has been bothering you, and don’t forget to tell him exactly, just the way you feel about the whole situation. Don’t run away from Him because you are in pain, instead run closer to Him because it is in Him that you can find true comfort. His hand reaches you to soothe you to an extent that no man’s hand can ever reach. Do you know why some people turn to drugs, alcohol, cigarette, womanizing and pornography? They were not born that way, but a large number of them turned to these things because they felt they would find relief through them.Some of these people are hurting so badly that they have to engage in these things to overcome the pain they feel. You don’t need to go that way and if that is the path you are already treading then you need to turn around and take the path that leads to lasting peace and soothing relieve and that path is God. No matter how far you think you have messed up, don’t be ashamed to come to God. One thing the devil does is to condemn us and feel like we can never be accepted into God’s kingdom because our sins are too numerous. But you must know that the word of God will never condemn you. And God is more than willing to accept you as you are. A sincere talk (prayer) with Him will make the difference and renewed relationship with him will turn everything around. You would always have things around capable of making one weep but you must never lose sight of the most important person, you must never lose sight of God. He is the author and finisher of your faith. So that means that He is the length and breadth of your life, with Him you have everything and without Him you have nothing. Honestly, it takes a lot of courage to do this but this is the only way. This is the surest route to overcoming the pain and burdens of the past. Dare to be unlimited. You are not to be barred by the failures of the past. The best way to get emotional healing is to draw strength from the Balm of Gilead, He is the only wise God.
Do you know why God did not allow Satan take the life of biblical Job? It is simply because when there is life, there is hope, things can still turn around. That means that that as long as you are still breathing and living, things will still change for the better. Be optimistic about life. It doesn’t matter how much you have failed, how much you have been jilted, how much money you lost or how many members of your family you have lost through a crash, the most important thing is this; now that you are still alive, make God your world. Make every other thing (relationship, career, family) revolve around Him and you would be surprised by how much peace you would have.  

You are a WINNING GENERATION! I, BAMILOSHIN ESTHER celebrates your courage and doggedness...Don't get tired, you have won already.