Been There, Done That

Ever feel like like you've gained a victory with the Lord, only to be revisited by the same issue or temptation a few months or even years later?

It can feel so discouraging to think you have overcome something only to find yourself struggling, once again, with that same issue.

A few years ago, the Lord enlightened me on this process and His beautiful revelation eased the sadness in my heart.

You see, I was so devastated that I was wrestling with an issue again. I truly thought the last time I went through this that I had made progress and was even victorious in overcoming and healing. And then, to find myself in the same place made my heart sink.

And then the enemy moves in and capitalizes on the opportunity. I started doubting if I had truly ever heard from God at all! Was I just kidding myself? I was crushed...heart, soul, and spirit.

In these moments it is definitely easy to fall into a self-deprecating spiral with thoughts such as...

I should have known better. What was I thinking? Of course, I didn't really beat this. Why am I still struggling with this? I thought I settled this. I thought I was healed from this. I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this again.

Always take note that when statements like the above come and they are accusatory, please know that they are not from God. God is not the accuser of the brethren. He does not accuse. The enemy does.

I wrestled with these things for a long while, and one day when I was finally ready to stop beating myself up and truly seek God for an answer as to why this was happening, and maybe what I had done wrong, a wonderful revelation came to me.

It is all a part of the healing journey. You see, more often than not we wouldn't mind if God would just leave things as they are. If we're not hurting, why bring anything up?

But God, in His infinite love, sees us as our true selves and is always at work redeeming, refining, healing, and moving us forward. We on the other hand like to settle in the comfortable places.

The revelation...

Picture our walk with God as a mountain. As we journey in our relationship and our life, we move up the mountain. Our goal is to always move up the mountain. It's true, sometimes we get stuck on the same level going round and round the mountain, but our goal is to go up.

So when we continue to have the same struggle over the same old thing, maybe we are stuck and we need to address that with the Lord.

But also, sometimes, we truly have healed and made our way up the mountain.

"So, why am I dealing with this again," you ask.

Quite possibly because you are now wrestling this issue at a deeper level. Our healing journey is not a one off. There are many issues in our life that if the Lord dealt with it all at once it would be too much. He won't do that to us.

Often we heal in layers.

We do get victory over that issue, that layer of the issue. And then when we come around to it again, the Lord helps us to heal in a deeper way.

Think about going around the mountain. If we are going up, but also around, we will be at the some place at some point, but we will be higher up. We will be able to see the issue from a higher perspective and heal deeper.

So be encouraged. If you are wrestling with "a same old something" and you thought you had dealt with it...you probably did. God, in His beautiful grace, is calling you to heal deeper, so that you can go higher with Him around the mountain.

What issue are you wrestling with? Are you willing to allow God to move you up the mountain by healing you in a deeper way?