Sticks and Stones...

God created us to live in peace. He created us to love one another.  I believe we function better in unity, in harmony. I believe we feel the best, the most energized and the most joyful when there is no grief or strife amongst us. Our souls were suited to work out of love, in love and with love. 

But that’s not always the case is it? 

I’m sure we all can say we have experienced conflict. Whether it was in a dating relationship, our husband, our wife, mom or dad, our children…a sibling…a friend. We all have felt hurt, misunderstood, and mistreated by another. The tension here is real, its deep and it’s painful. The feeling of being misunderstood and mistreated. It’s one of the hardest places to land. Because there is no closure. There is no period, no end. Nothing is final. It is just left…like an open wound that has no ability to heal itself. Our hearts can be left hurt, misunderstood and devalued. 

It’s conflict. It’s the words that were said or not said. It’s the lack of grace, love, and forgiveness.

“What she said is unforgivable. What he did…I can never forget.” 

And oh.. have I been there. I have felt the sting of someone’s words. I have felt the burden of being completely misunderstood. I have felt the cold shoulder, the hardened heart from a family member. I have felt the gossip, the lies that were told. It can cut your heart and cause you to be jaded. It leaves you feeling raw, vulnerable, and utterly broken. And if those feelings are left untouched, it grows roots of bitterness, anger, hate, and pride.

For the past few years I have found myself in this season of dealing with conflict, and I have been seeking God, seeking His word all the while screaming, “God guide me, heal me, help me!”

I read…

“Seek peace and pursue it. Bear with each other in love. Words bring life or death”…Yes God I see it, I hear it…but I don’t feel it. She was so disrespectful, so cold, there was no understanding in her voice. There was no desire to hear me, to know me, to love me. She didn't apologize, she didn't own up to anything. She just kept throwing stones, so what do I do with that God? With how I feel? 

I leaned in closer, with a desire to grow and be sanctified. And I believe that is the key…to press in. Press in when it hurts, press in when your feelings and emotions are running high, when your anger is at boiling point. Because it is in these moments…that He shows up. It’s who He is.

​It’s not in His nature to not answer.

Because He is Emanuel. God with us, God in us, God in you.

And so the Spirit spoke truth to me and it was as if the wind blew in with the cold breeze and gave me new life. And it wasn’t about her and it wasn't about how to forgive, it was about me…isn’t it always.

1. Realize you can’t kick everyone out of your life who hurts you So for some time I saw my life as a circle. The people who I liked were allowed in. But if someone hurt me I would quickly re-draw my circle a little bit smaller leaving their name on the outside. I began to realize that if I did that to everyone in my life…there would be no one left. 
2. We are called to be in tune with the Holy Spirit not to be in tune with our emotions I am a sensitive soul. And all my life I have been led to believe like that is a bad thing. I finally stopped receiving this as truth. I am made in the image of God! He made me this way, however He is intended to be Lord and Leader over my emotions.

"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Jeremiah 17:9. 

Your heart consists of your mind, will and EMOTIONS. And so many times in my life I have been told, “It’s ok, that’s how you feel. You are allowed to feel this way. You deserve to feel this way.” Well okay… but as a woman of God I am called to be more in tune with the Holy Spirit then my emotions, my self, my flesh. The more we are in tune with the Holy Spirit the more our emotions will come into alignment with the Holy Spirit. 

     3. The more confident we are in our identity in Christ the less conflict will intimidate us ​The more I know who I am in Christ as a woman, the more I am able to love with not needing anything in return. The person and their opinion of me has no weight on who I am. If I am able to look at a situation and know, “God I sought peace, I honored you, and I humbled myself.” And if they don’t accept any of that. It’s ok. Heather it is ok. My identity belongs in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Because if their name isn't God, their opinion doesn't matter and their approval isn't
needed. 
​

So I don’t move on and act like this never happened. But I let go. 
Let go knowing this is no longer up to me. 
Let go letting the Lord continue to shape me. 
Let go of the hurt. Because when hurt ends healing can begin, and only the Holy one can heal and reveal and lead and love. 

Let go because I am a Mother who is a walking example to her children. And I am a Mother who will raise young women to know their identity belongs in Jesus Christ. Not in this culture, not in this world and not in someone's opinion of them. 

So I hope dear soul, you can be encouraged, that you can take what I have learned and choose to press in. 

Because when we press in we please our Heavenly Father. And that is how you live Lovely and Free. 

Much Love,
  Heather