“Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20 – King James Version) My genuine hope and primary purpose for the Ephesians 3:20 Faith Encouragement and Empowerment Blog is to assist all people of faith, regardless of your prism of experience, to grow spiritually toward unconditional self-acceptance and develop personally acquiring progressive integrity of belief and lifestyle. I pray you will discover your unique purpose in life. I further pray love, joy, peace, happiness and unreserved self-acceptance will be your constant companions. Practically speaking, this blog will help you see the proverbial glass in life as always half full rather than half empty. I desire you become an eternal optimist who truly believes that Almighty God can do anything that you ask or imagine.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

First Personal Pathway to Healing - Comprehensively Embracing Past Pain - Part II


First Pathway to Healing - Comprehensively Embracing Past Pain – Part II

Because embracing pain feels like a weak response, most people refuse this first pathway of healing.  We despise weakness in people because we so greatly detest it within ourselves.  Healing ironically ensues if a person willingly and open-mindedly retrieves divine power and personal insight embedded within any catastrophe.  Whereas anger initially feels empowering, it is fundamentally toxic.  As resentment significantly increases, your anger turns inwardly.  In addition to poisoning your heart and soul, anger adversely effects your body.  It seems reasonable that bitterness and stress could contribute to cancer and other debilitating diseases.  Nevertheless, embracing pain is preferable to heartache and emotional paralysis.  Mystically and providentially, Almighty God transforms disappointment and betrayal into cathartic means of change.  Reminiscent of a refiner’s fire, these experiences burn dross and other sediments out of our character.  Elimination of latent character defects is critical for inner healing and wholeness.  Otherwise, we repeat choices and behavior that undermine our good and growth.  Welcoming opportunities for growth embedded in daily problems is the more preferable pathway to healing.

Utilizing pain is a strange and mysterious method to acquire spiritual attributes.  St. Thomas Aquinas simply defined humility as the truth.  In accepting undistorted facts of any difficult period, a person obtains greater humility which enables him or her to empathize with fellow sufferers.  Open-mindedness additionally is an invaluable spiritual quality.  Anyone recovering from past pain can glean wisdom and support from fellow sufferers of different ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds.  Willingness perfectly complements humility and open-mindedness as a person intentionally embraces painful experiences and develops empathy for all members in the human family.  Reading books and taking academic courses do not impart this knowledge.  This knowledge from the “anvils of experience” emerges within “the school of hard knocks.” As people internalizes these lessons, they relate more harmoniously with spouses, children, coworkers and friends. 

Humility offers yet another spiritual asset.  It fosters genuine reliance upon Almighty God when crises and circumstances overwhelm inner resources.  Even the toughest person will falter underneath sustained challenges.  Enduring encouragement and empowerment from longstanding friends will proves insufficient at times.  There are obstacles and afflictions which human power cannot resolve.  At such junctures in life, it is imperative to seek divine assistance.  God uses human weakness to demonstrate His power.  When Paul asks the Lord to remove a thorn in his flesh, the Lord responds, “My grace is sufficient for you; my power is made perfect in your weakness.”  What an amazing irony!  Admission of human frailty enables a person to utilize God’s power to triumph over adversities.  Embracing incapacities and inadequacies empowers a person with divine power.  Access to God’s power is available to individuals who realize God’s sovereign willingness and ability to help them. Practically speaking, humility means relying genuinely upon God in contrast to rugged individualism.

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