“… I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.” Matthew 28:20b (CEB)

“There are just some wounds that can never be healed.”

As I said these words to my friend, she was shocked. She knew of breakthroughs I’d had in many areas of my life. And yet I was pretty sure I’d always feel I was not enough, never doing enough, like I was a burden to the people around me.

Have you ever felt this way?

We know God can set us free from sin. But there may be some brokenness in our past and wounds deep in our hearts that we’ve resigned we’ll never be set free from during this lifetime. There are some lies rooted so deep that we have grown used to them.

Though I often asked God to “heal me from all my hurts,” I had never asked Him to heal me from those moments specifically.

Taking out my journal, I wrote out the most painful memories I needed to move past.

My list had 28 specific things. Words that people had said or not said. Things I had done that I couldn’t forgive myself for. People who I thought would stay, but they didn’t. People who I thought would defend me, but they didn’t.

I partnered with God in prayer, surrendering each painful circumstance one by one. I asked for His healing, perspective and peace. I prayed for the strength to forgive and move forward. I asked for Jesus to be close and, as I read His words, for Him to show me who I really am now.

Then Jesus’ words in Matthew came to mind: “… I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age” (Matthew 28:20b).

He is with me every day. I have never been alone.

Yes, Jesus was with me now … in the moment I handed these stories to Him. But I never once thought Jesus was with me then, when each of those painful circumstances happened. God does not just love me now. He was there, loving me then. The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is not just here for me now. He was there then.

I don’t know what stories of your own come to mind. The moments when someone betrayed you or the moments of loss that shattered your heart.

Jesus is not just here now, wanting to give you what you need. Jesus was there then.

Here is a tool that has set me free from hurts I never thought I could be free from: Put Jesus in the story.

In your painful memory, what details come to mind? Give yourself the space and the time needed to go back to that place.

Now, where is Jesus? Is He sitting? Is He standing? What does His face look like as He looks at you? What does He feel toward you in this moment? What words would He say to you?

Friend, perhaps now you can get from Jesus what no one else was able to give you.

In that classroom where people told you that you weren’t good enough, Jesus wants to tell you, “You are loved and worthy. They have no right to define you.”

In that bedroom where someone made you feel powerless and worthless, Jesus wants to tell you, “You are loved and valuable. They have no right to take this from you.”

In that living room where you felt like everyone was against you and no one was fighting for you, Jesus wants to tell you, “You are loved and worth fighting for. I am on your side.”

You deserve to stop looking at yourself through the broken lens of others. When you see yourself through God’s lens and how He sees you, you will see yourself for who you really are and who you’ve always been.

You are more than you’ve been told.
You’ve always been loved. Wanted. Chosen. And worth fighting for.
And the truth is this: You were loved all along.

God, I am done believing lies about myself. As I hand each lie and painful memory over to You, help me to see it through the lens of the cross and to be reminded of how You have always seen me. I am ready to live as the forgiven, healed and free child of God I really am. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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FOR DEEPER STUDY

Deuteronomy 31:8, “The LORD is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged” (CSB).

Consider taking time to write out the wounds that have held you back. Surrender them to Jesus, and invite Him into those moments.

How does seeing Jesus in your story shift your perspective? How does applying God’s Word to those moments change how you see your life?

© 2023 by Hosanna Wong. All rights reserved.

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