It's Time To Let Go Of The Pain

IT’S TIME TO LET GO OF THE PAIN

INTRODUCTION: When we come to salvation in Christ we are made new. The slate has been wiped clean; we’re starting over fresh and clean. Yet that doesn’t mean it’s easy to just release all the wreckage of the past. Being reborn doesn’t mean we automatically get rid of the all the pain of the past. However, if we are going to be successful in moving forward in our Christian walk then we’ll need to let go of all that useless, heavy baggage.

1) Throw it off.

Heb. 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

“Throw off everything that hinders”. Holding onto pain is one of those things that hinder us from running our race. The remedy is given in vs. two-we need to fix our eyes on Jesus. We need to concentrate on Jesus when we’re getting bogged down by our pain. Carrying around burdens slows us down. We can’t think straight when we’re angry; we can’t function right when we’re depressed. We haven’t got time for the pain because we’ve got a race to run; we’ve got a purpose to serve.

We think about the heroes of the faith who went through a lot and dealt with many difficulties and frustrations-endured a lot of pain-physical, emotional, psychological and perhaps even spiritual. But they didn’t give up; they persevered. They worked through it; they overcame it. We need to be motivated by their examples.

We look at the pain and suffering Job went through yet he pressed on. We look at the Psalms and we see David pouring out his pain before God and we become inspired by his faith. We see the pain of Paul with all his persecutions yet he maintained his joy.

We see Jesus-our perfect example of how to adequately deal with pain. He was rejected and betrayed; he felt the pain of disappointment and abandonment yet what did he do? He got outside of himself and chose to serve; he chose to help other people with their pain. There were moments where Jesus went off to be alone with the Father. I’m sure part of that time included pouring out his pain and the Father replenishing him.

We need to follow the examples of the people we see in scripture and throw off every pain that hinders us and get busy running our race with perseverance.

2) Fugedaboudit.

Isa. 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Jesus said in Rev. 21:5, “I am making everything new.”

We experience pain from our old life. Satan reminds us of our sins and we experience that pain all over again. But we shouldn’t hold onto that. It isn’t us anymore. We were made new. The old has been done away with; that’s not who we are anymore.

There’s a post I saw that said, “Satan knows your name but he calls you by your sin. God knows your sin but he calls you by your name”.

Therefore, when Satan wants to drudge up our past and make it painful again, we need to resist it and fugedaboudit.

Isa. 50:8-9, “He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.”

Satan is our accuser but God has forgotten our sins. Heb. 8:12, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” The fact that God has let go of our sins should motivate us to do the same. When we find ourselves in pain over our past mistakes we need to cry out to God and trust in what he has done.

David prayed in Psalm 69:29, “I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me.” When the past creeps up on us and we are in pain and sorrow we need to be reminded of our salvation. This will help us to remember what we are now verses what we were then. And these reminders will protect us from the taunts of the enemy. When it comes to the pain of our past we need to forget it.