But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another….(1 John 1:7)
It is really hard to trust someone when you’ve been hurt by another person. My circumstances in life are revealing this reality to me. Since someone hurt me and betrayed my trust I feel myself impressing that experience on other people thinking that because they are in a similar position that they will treat me the same way.
The scripture tells us to wise as serpents and innocent as doves, but this doesn’t mean that we treat everyone as if they were a serpent. This is what I feel my heart doing, not giving people the benefit of the doubt and automatically assuming that they will be the same way.
I hear the Lord say, “Heather, let it go, don’t define other people by your past experiences.” I think we should practice wisdom when it comes to who we let into our lives, but this doesn’t mean that we treat them like a criminal before we get to know them.
I am reminded that I to have hurt people in similar ways. That me, Heather, just like those who have hurt me is really just in need of lots of grace. Therefore, I must offer the same grace to others, being wise as to who I let into my life, but not project past experiences upon them before I get to know them.
What I’m finding in my heart is fear. Fear that if I take this step or walk this direction the exact same thing will happen to me and I’ll be betrayed once more. Fear is a terrible place to live. Until we release our fears to the Lord, we will never walk forward in the new victory and freedom that God has for us. Be reminded that God is working something beautiful out of your pain and sometimes, He asks us to enter back into a similar place so that we can practice faith, despite our fears that try to convince us that the same peril will happen for our lives.
Lord, I trust you. It’s hard to walk back into similar places. Places where we’ve been deeply hurt by others, but the truth is, I cannot walk forward in my freedom until I do. Lord, I place my life in your hands today, in Jesus name, Amen.
Heather Quiroz 