The Unwounded life bears no resemblance to the Rabbi. (Brennan Manning)
Our True problem lies not in being wounded but in whether or not we are willing to be healed.
A Place of Mystery
He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
I think is is safe to say that the sould is a place of mystery. We cannot see our soul, but we can and do feel it’s impact on our lifes. All kinds of feelings, attitudes, thoughts, imaginings, and desires fill the sould, and they are often in conflict with one another.
We may feel that we want to do one thing, yet think we are not able to do it. We have many feelings we don’t understand or even know where they came from.
**Why, for example, would a woman feel intimidated when another woman she doesn’t even know walks into a room?
**Or why would a woman lack confidence even though she is very talented.
**What causes insecurity, fear of failure, abandonment, rejection?
These problems are definitely caused by something, we need to know what it is. There could be multiple reasons we react the way we do in specific circumstances, but we will never understand ourselves if we continue to ignore and hide from the negative feelings and strange behaviors we have. Most of them come emotional injury we have sustained in our lifetime that has never been healed.
It is impossible to go through life and never be hurt, but whether we heal or stay wounded is up to us. It’s easy to hide from our pain and live under layers of false identities in an effort to hide the person we really are, but it takes courage to find your true self and learn to live the life you were meant to live.
Have you ever thought, “I just don’t understand myself”? "What is wrong with me?” “Who am I, adn what is my purpose in life?”
The way to find the answers to these questions is to look into God’s Word. In His Word, we find His Plan for us and we recognize the lies we have believed, perhaps our entire life, that have been used to detail our destiny and leave us confused about our identity.
You may believe that you will always have a second-rate life because of your past hurts, failures, and abuse; but in God’s Word, you will find out that He could take your pain and actually make it work out for your good if you would let him.
If you have been hurt and have a wounded soul, don’t be afraid to open your entire being to God and ask Him to heal you.
Remember, healing requires facing a lot of things you may have been ignoring or hiding from for a long time.
It may be a frightening thought to let hte light into your darkness, but I promise that you will be glad you did.
What happens when you try to erase your past?
**You deprive the community of your healing gift.
What happens when you conceal your wounds out of shame?
**Our Inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for others.
God wants soldiers in His army who have allowed Him to heal their wounded souls. No matter who has rejected you in the past, Jesus will not reject you.
(Page 20) What are you lacking?
**Education
**Social Status
**Money
**A Spouse
**A Job
God can use you with our without those things. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
READ: I Samuel 1:7 and I Corinthian 1:2-28
Who does God deliberately choose to work in His Kingdom army?
**Those who have been wounded
God works through our wounds and our weaknesses, and people see His power.
How do you know when someone in the world is not leaning and relying on God?
**They think they are strong and have all the qualifications they need to survive!
How does God deal with these type of people?
**He often has to pass them over and instead choose someone who is less qualified from a worldly perspective but is entirely dependent upon Him in all areas of their life.
What happens when you put your trust in God?
**The people that hurt you will witness the mighty things that God has done in your life and through you as His Instrument.
Being experienced is a benefit, but getting the experience is painful.
Experience gives us something that nothing else can. We learn by God’s Word and by life’s experience (Proverbs 3:13).
It is easy to talk about a thing, but only experience makes what we say worth listening to.
(Page 21) The world is filled with people who judge what they know nothing about and attep to educate people regarding what they have never experience. (The Psychologist)
Have you ever felt that God could never use you because of your past, consider what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: (Read at bottom of page 19) I Corinthians 1:26
(Page 22 / 3rd Paragraph)
We are prone to despising the painful thins we have gone through in life, but God can use them to help others if we will let Him.
Who does God use?
**Everyone who is willing to be used by Him.
What Qualifies Jesus to Help Us?
The Bible says Jesus chose to experience our pain.
(READ Hebrews 5:8-9)
Jesus needed experience in order to be our High Priest so He could truly say that He understood our pain.
Have You ever experienced Jesus’ healing power. (Talk about it)
Jesus suffered. He gained experience. And it equipped Him for what His Father wanted Him to do.Paul wronte that he have a High Priest who is able “to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses,” because He has done through the thigns we go through now. (Hebrews 4:15)
The Scriptures should give us HOPE.
God is good and therefore He can take what Satan intended for hard and work it out for our good and the good of others who need help.
We are God’s Army.We are soldiers in God’s mighty army, but insteade of putting His soldiers who are wounded in a hospital, He actually promotes them into positions of greater power and influence.
What should we do?
**Offer your eperience to God for His use
Tell God, “Lord, I’m a mess but I’m Yours if you can use me!” Anything we give to God will never be wasted. He takes the broken pieces of our lives and makes beautiful things.
He gives us beauty for ashes.
God’s story NEVER ends with ashes!!!
What happened when Moses reached a point in his life where he needed help?
**God told him to find wise, understanding, experienced, and respected men and promote them (Deuteronomy 1:13)
Don’t let your pain be wasted by being bitter and resentful throughout life because you feel that you have been unjustly treated.
Instead, make your experiences a valuable tool for helping others.
God gave this word to Isaiah to give to the people who were in fear because of the painful things they were going through. (Read Isaiah 41:15-17)
What did God promise in the above text?
**God promised to take you and turn you into a valuable tool that can be used to help those who are seeking help.
Sanctified Experiences
What does “Sanctified” mean?
**Set apart for God’s Use.
Who is our true enemy and is behind all of our pain and suffering?
**Satan
But by letting God sanctify those pains and use them to help others, we have found the secret of overcoming evil with good. Roman 12:21
If you don’t like what the devil has done in your life or the destruction he has caused, then don’t play into his hands by being resentful, angry, and filled with self-pity.
LET GOD SANCTIFY your pain and you will see the fulfillment of the Scripture.
The enemy may come 1 way but he will flee before you 7 ways.
You make the devil run from you.
What are some types of things that happen to women that wound their souls?
There is NOTHING God can’t heal!!! You can recover from ANYTHING with God.
MARKED FOR LIFE
Abuse has a way of leaving a negative mark on your life. The seal of the Holy Spirit guarantees that we will be fully redeemed and acquire complete possession of our inheritance in Christ.
No matter how wounded we are when we being our journey toward wholeness, God has GUARANTEED our success as long as we don’t give us.
You are NOT marked by your past…YOU ARE MARKED BY GOD!
He gathers up the fragments of our broken lives and makes sure that nothing is wasted.
Declare THIS: “I refuse to live in the dark any longer. I will take God’s hand and walk into the light and face the truth that will set me free!”