Dear Ones,
There is within us all this strong desire for the freedom to live and be whole, but it takes enormous courage and discipline to make the choice to trust God and do the difficult work this requires. Taking those initial steps toward change can be so frightening and painful that we often quit before we have a chance to experience any healing. The old voices in our heads tell us it won’t work, things will only get worse, and we’re wasting our time. The new voice in our hearts tells us that if we don’t change, we won’t grow. So dare to let go, trust God, and make the choice to change, regardless of how hard it is.
Change and growth are synonymous. We have a choice, and our choice is critical because it is either life-giving or life-draining. Failure to dare to change keeps us trapped in old behavior patterns that obviously haven’t worked, so why not take a chance on trust? Old behavior patterns are so hard to break because they are deeply rooted in our childhood wounds. The more we develop new behavior patterns, though, the easier the work becomes, and we slowly begin to see our lives bear fruit. We feel better physically, so we begin to feel better emotionally. When we feel better emotionally, our self-esteem and self-confidence begin to spark within us a new desire for life.
In my own work of moving against depression, it took me a while, but I slowly realized that the very thing I didn’t want to do in my recovery work was usually the very thing I needed to do. I deeply believed that God would help me get well, but I began to see that to be well and whole I had to accept the struggle of change. I had to truly trust Jesus as the savior of my broken self.
The suffering way of Jesus is willingness, acceptance, and trust. As Jesus lived, so are we to live; trusting that new life flows out of the choices we make and all that we let go of. It takes a great willingness to choose to surrender all of our sorrows, all of our needs, and all of our fears and trust the intimate love of a very present God. But if we will choose this descending way of humility, we will find our way to freedom. I know this is so because I have experienced it.
May the Source of Love fill, inspire, and bless you as you make the choice for life. ~Betty
(Excerpted from The Hidden Life Awakened pp 91-92.)