RISE: (FOR)Give & Go

RISE: (FOR)Give & Go

Just before I decided to stop working at Faith Outreach Center, I noticed that I started to decompress emotionally. For me, I knew that this transition was coming a couple of years prior to it happening. I didn’t have all of the details, but I could see the writing on the wall. When it was finally time to let go of the staff position from an emotional standpoint, I realized just how much pain I hadn’t fully dealt with while working there. It was crazy! It almost felt as if every suppressed memory of the hurtful things that were said and done to me came rushing back to my mind.

When hurtful things happen to us, sometimes we truly believe that we’ve dealt with the situations and are able to move on. We never really take the time to grieve or heal. We just brush it off and go on for the sake of the family, the ministry, or whatever context we may find ourselves in at the moment. Transitions provide us with a space to breathe, examine situations and, most of all, examine ourselves. It’s at that place of examining ourselves that we find out that we’re not really ok. That was me.

My wife told me once that “the way you leave one season is the way that you’ll enter the next season”. I really do believe that to be true. I knew that if I left mad at everyone who did me wrong, then I would enter this next season unable to fully step into this new role of service that God has placed in front of me. There was just one problem. As much as I tried, I couldn’t let things go. I tried to remind myself of God’s love for me and how he forgave a sinner like me when I didn’t deserve it. But it didn’t work. I really needed God’s POWER to get over this stuff. Believe me, I felt like I had solid reasons to stay offended. I even used scripture to back up the fact that I didn’t have to forgive anyone who didn’t ask for my forgiveness. But the hurt and the ugly feelings towards people stayed. I had to give this whole thing to God. I told God that I couldn’t forgive even though my spirit wanted to. I told Him that I also knew that this unforgiveness would hinder me if I didn’t let it go.

On my way to a concert, I was praying in the Holy Spirit and I felt a huge weight lift from me. At that moment, I felt like I actually got the revelation that I was no one to hold anything against anyone else. I also felt something very special. I felt God’s love for me and His power to help me forgive everyone who hurt me. It was awesome! Only God gets the glory. Now I feel like I’m ready to receive everything that God has for me because my prayers aren’t hindered by an unforgiving heart. It gave me the confidence to know that God is for me so much that He would, in His grace, position my heart to be able to receive everything that He has for me. God is good.

I want to encourage you. A lot of friends, especially in our RISE family, are going through transitions. Reevaluation is happening. We’re beginning to rethink relationships, friendships, job situations, even theology… and basically life in general. God is moving us to a higher place. In the mind of God, the promotion was always going to happen. This new place that God has for was always reserved for us. The question is: are we really ready for it or are we going to hold on to the past by holding on to unforgiveness? You may never get the apology you need in order to forgive. As Jesus did, we must forgive those who do us wrong. (FOR)GIVE and GO do everything that God has called you to do. Live free! Greatness awaits.

#RISE