As I’ve been reading through John and Stasi Edlredge’s book Captivating this month, the theme that has continued to jump out at me has been, “What lies are you believing?” The authors write about how our past (particularly the painful parts) continue to hurt us, how it speaks messages to us that are not true, how it hinders the work of God in our lives when we do not let it go and move on with our lives. In their own words, on pages 100-101, they write, “Your wounds brought messages with them. Lots of messages. Somehow they all usually land in the same place. They had a similar theme. ‘You’re worthless’ … ‘You’re too much … and not enough.’ ‘You’re a disappointment.’ ‘You are repulsive.’ On and on they go … They pierced our hearts, and they seemed so true. So we accepted the message as fact. We embraced it as the verdict on us” and lived in bondage to that verdict, whether or not it was an accurate one. ...
Pressing in, not turning back, growing in faith, not growing slack, ... daring to be restless with anything less than God's best.