The lies come in like a flood. A tidal wave of defeat. A heavy cloak of shame. You try to fight against it but the force is too powerful. It overtakes you. Strips you of everything you hold sacred.
Once again, you’re nothing. Worthless. A waste of energy. Invaluable. An inconvenience and a burden.
It’ll never be enough. The past will always collide with the future and you’ll never be truly free of any of it. Even if you release it, someone else hasn’t. The reminders are everywhere; like living in a hallway encircled by mirrors from the past.
They hold your old reflection hostage.
You search for the sun, aching to wrap yourself in its warmth and light; yet that magnifying glass of judgment through which others view you burns your skin as the sun beams through it onto your wasted effort.
“But I’m different now!” you scream from underneath that heavy curse. They can’t hear you. They don’t want to hear you. To them you’ll always be the same broken mess you always were.
It seems the top gets further the more you climb.
To some, your mistakes will always refute your progress. Your brokenness will always overshadow your beauty. Your weakness will always overpower your strength. And the story of what lead you down those paths back then will always be irrelevant to the new roads you’re traveling now.
For a few, the standard can’t be met. You’ll always come up just below the line of good enough and in those circles, you’ll always feel like you’re drowning just a little bit.
Satan will use anything to suck out your spirit. To stifle your voice. To quiet your soul.
You’ll escape that old mirror filled hallway only to be met by another painful reminder of who you used to be. Of who you never thought you’d be.
Never really new. Never really clean. Never really whole.
But it’s a lie!
God has called you by name. Away from the fire that tried to burn you to nothing. Out of the ashes.
God saw you in your filth and claimed you as His. Made you whole. Called you new.
He covered each of your broken places with His very hands and restored you to fullness. He made you strong at the broken places and He’s using you, not in spite of that brokenness but because of it.
His light will shine through your holes.
His mercy is there even if no one else extends it.
His grace is enough.
When the lies flood in, my instinct is to retreat. To build the walls. To shut down. To shut up.
But God says no. The heaviness of the world, the lies of the enemy, and the contempt of others will only rob you of your purpose. It is not your responsibility to live for the approval of others. It is your responsibility to live for the approval of your Heavenly Father. The one who created you for a very specific purpose- a purpose only you can fulfill.
We all make mistakes. Some bigger than others. But the important thing is what you do with those mistakes. Do you stay in them and allow them to swallow you whole? Or do you use them to propel you forward, learning every step of the way as you walk with strength away from the past?
The noise of the world is loud; but the calm voice of God is more powerful than any noise the enemy uses to distract you.
You may feel like a broken vessel, but when God looks at you, He sees beauty. He sees His child. A child whom he created. A child whom he loves unconditionally and without walls. Without judgments. Without unreachable standards.
He loves you with a burning passion so strong nothing can shake it. It is because you’re weak that God can be strong through you. It is because of your flaw-filled past that God can use you now and in the future to help heal others.
He can use you even while you’re still broken. Even when you’re flawed. Even when you’re messy. In fact, his best work is done through the most broken, most flawed, most messy, wrecked individuals.
There will always be weights the world tries to shackle to your feet. But God is the breaker of chains.
Walk free.
When the enemy rises up against you, silence the lies. Don’t allow the lies to silence you.
If none of that convinced you, listen to this song and read these lyrics.
When this life has overwhelmed me
And I feel like giving up
I will cling to all you’ve promised
It will always be enoughWhen the world around me crumbles
And it’s hard to understand
I will run to you my shelter
I am safe within Your hands
You are my help foreverI will not fear
God You are with me
I know You’re with me
You’ll never leave me
I will trust in You aloneWhen I’m broken in the silence
I can hear You whispering
You’re not alone here in these trials
I will hold you faithfully
You are my help foreverI will not fear
God You are with me
I know You’re with me
You’ll never leave me
I will trust in You aloneAnd when my heart and strength have failed me
My God, You won’t
Your name is mighty
I will trust in You aloneYou are a fortress for the weak
The strength that carries me when I am on my knees
The cross reminds my heart to trust
Your faithfulness and love will always be enoughI will not fear
God You are with me
I know You’re with me
You’ll never leave me
I will trust in You alone
Three Boys and a Mom 