See, you smile, but smiles can be complicated when you are hiding from your truth. We laugh and pretend at the same time. Has this ever been you? You fear telling anyone because it may sound senseless, so you suppress your feelings. You bury them. You can’t continue to suppress or even ignore the very thing that keeps you stuck in yesterday. As long as you continue to suppress, you can’t progress. You deny yourself the ability to move forward. You deny yourself a victorious life. It’s time to acknowledgment your pain by speaking your truth so you can live a greater life. I learned a powerful declaration made by Pastor Latanya Blake Allen, “It’s a great day to live a greater life, and I’m living in my greater and I’m living in my future right now.” See, if you don’t let go, you can’t live a greater life. God has a greater life and a brighter future for you when you release. That’s the part we must get. By faith, you will get it, and you will be better than yesterday.
Some individuals get stuck in the process of their healing. They don’t have the tools to effectively conquer the dark clouds that shrouded them and blocked life’s sunshine for many years. Counseling helps you get to the root of the matter. It reveals why you remain stuck, trapped, and without deliverance. Expose your hurt to someone who is skilled to help you while not harming you. Someone who will not reach back later to use your pain and secrets against you. Effective therapy can help you navigate through your losses, pain, failures, and mistakes. It will get you to the finish line. Everybody needs a coach now and then. You need someone who will help you learn how to laugh from a place of freedom and true joy. A healed place. A place of wholeness.
You may never totally get over the pain of your past, but our great God will give you the grace to laugh and soar. Allow each test to help you evolve into the person God created you to be. He desires that we are healed, set free, and delivered in every area – mentally, psychologically, socially, and physically. This is your future! Laugh at the enemy and stop crying about yesterday. Let me encourage you with this passage of scripture:
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved (Ephesians 2:1-5).
We are forgiven of our past. Completely. When the enemy rears his head and presents you with a picture of your yesterday, stop, smile, and laugh. It is a fact. He will not win. See yourself better until you believe it.
Words of Life
Father, thank You for Your grace and mercy. I trust You with my insecurities. You are the one who makes me smile when I am gloomy. Thank You for a long, beautiful life. Thank You for strengthening and empowering me to laugh at the enemy and his devices. I am the head and not the tail; he is beneath me. I am reminded of Proverbs 17:22, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” I am thankful that laughter is my strength. I will continue to laugh knowing You love me. Although I face the challenges of life, Lord, my heart is happy, and I rejoice, for You are my King. God, thank You for laughter, smiles, and kind eyes. Thank You for fun, friendships, and stress relief.
The Challenge
What experiences from your past has the enemy tried to hold you in bondage to? How long have you faced this plot?
Find a scripture that relates to the bondage you identified, and write your confession. Read your confession out loudly, each day, and learn to laugh.
