joyindestructible

Troubled children grow up to become broken adults. Rebellion is the choice that seems right to a tortured/tormented child but rebellion is destruction invited within. Broken adults carry the trouble from childhood into the present and make decisions based on the faulty preparation for life they received. Some abuse others, while those others abuse themselves and make choices that invite further abuse. Most live by a combination of the extremes. Wrong choices manufacture more trouble and increase personal fragmentation. With every damaging decision the mind grows darker. Thinking infused by chaos turns to distortion and there is no escape. A painful past is relentless in its hounding pursuit. The past can’t be buried alive either and those who try are always discovered as an imposter. The past is part of who people are in the present and pretending to be someone else can’t keep the past hidden for long. Neither is it possible to outrun the consequences of sin. Sin is coupled with death and death badgers those with a troublesome past. No matter how intense the longing for a better life, it remains illusive and there seems to be no way out.

 The only way to repair a shattered life is to be born again and start life anew. True, it’s impossible to be placed again in a mother’s womb and be given a different life; but what is impossible for human beings is possible with God. Guilt and shame from the past is a mortal enemy that must be faced through self-confrontation. A day of reckoning must come for everyone who desires freedom from a distressful past and the consequence of sin. This is the place where Jesus reaches down to those who are no longer strong enough to try to outdistance their past. Jesus is the intense, pure light that beckons to those lost in the ebony night of the soul. He is life to those sickened and spiritually dead from sin. He is the hand reaching down to save. The troubled and broken who reach up and grasp that offered hand, through faith, are rescued. The inner darkness where death dwells with sin is the place where light and life enter to permanently stay. Those who are spiritually dead in sin, rise to live again, as they are spiritually reborn to live a new life. Troubled, broken people now spiritually transformed in Christ, receive a perfect Heavenly Father to protect and guide them, and Jesus (the friend closer than a brother) to teach them the right way to live. Though the earthly consequences of sin may still have to be paid, death no longer hounds those who’ve been spiritually reborn and have received eternal life. Now, they have the power to overcome the destruction of the past, as every dark deed suffered and committed is brought into the light and becomes a light to lead others away from personal destruction. This is the true testimony of Jesus: “I didn’t live the kind of life that made me worthy of saving but when I was utterly lost and valued by no one, God demonstrated His mercy and Jesus saved me.” He will do the same for you and if you reach for the saving arm of Jesus, He will replace the threat of death, you experience as fear, guilt, and shame, with eternal life as your heart is engulfed by joy! He will heal your troubled heart, and mend your broken soul, and even lead you into making peace with your past as the light of His love grows to fill every corner of your being. If you are troubled and broken, worn out from fleeing past mistakes, don’t hesitate to reach back to Jesus, today!