Sweet Memories That Bind
Many of us have looked back with longing at a time when we had joy, true intimacy with God, and peace blanketed every area of our lives. While we understand that we go through seasons in our spiritual walk, memories of a sweeter time seems to haunt us, sometimes discouraging and mocking us. We know God is still there, we can see Him working in and through us, but where did our peace go? How did we lose it? Why can't get it back?
Peace slips away slowly, when we're not even aware of it, usually one decision at a time. One small disobedient act leads to another, then to another, and another. God calls to us, wanting us to spend time with Him instead of watching our favorite television program. We promise Him we will stop and visit just as soon as it's over. At bedtime, we remember our promise, but we're too tired to give Him any quality time so we say a quick prayer and promise to slow down for Him tomorrow. Slowly good intentions replace obedience and we find ourselves pushing thoughts of God further and further back to alleviate feelings of guilt.
"It's the little foxes that spoil the vines" (Song of Solomon 2:15). One little compromise after another lead to bigger compromises until one day we look at our lives and realize we walked completely away from God's will into a life of trying to find ways to please God in our own abilities. We dust our Bibles off, promising God and ourselves that we're going to do better. For a few days, we're faithful to prayer and study, but no matter how hard we work at it we can't get back what we've lost. We measure every experience against memories of the past, the way it used to be. We begin to doubt whether we'll ever find that elusive peace that was once such an important part of our lives. Unfortunately, present experience never measures up and consequently we fall back into the familiar pattern of compromise and disobedience.
Until we can let go of our past experience and understand that God wants us to grow through to a new level we will never find what we need. The past was our childhood. When we cried, God was right there. He fed us when we were hungry, cleaned us up when we felt dirty, and held us when we were lonely. How silly would we look if we were to crawl into a baby bed and cry for a bottle? Yet spiritually that's what we do. We must let go of the desire to go back so that we can go forward.
Peace is the result of intimacy with God, knowing that we can trust Him in whatever enters into our lives. Intimacy with God is the result of dying to self and our own desires, wanting only to please Him. When all that matters is pleasing Him, we are open to new experiences and a new level of relationship; we become a friend of God.
Article Source: Miron Ministries
About the Author
Dr. Sharon Schuetz is an ordained minister and holds a BA in Religious Education and a Phd in Clinical Counseling Psychology. She and her husband, Michael, have been married for 33 years. They have three children and seven grandchildren. Like most writers, she has loved writing since she was a child.