We also need to develop emotionally. When we don’t get help for our past emotional hurts, we can find ourselves acting out of character. We might treat others like we were treated, and hurt the most important people in our lives. Our relationships might even end up falling apart. Being stuck in the past is not what God wants for us. He has new things He wants to do in and through us. Isaiah 43 says: ‘Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past.  Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it?’ (vv.18-19 NCV). If we’re still emotionally tied to our past, we’ll struggle to step into the new things ahead of us. Regret, bitterness, resentment, anger, and hurt keep us trapped. But it’s often easier said than done to let go of them and move on. In the Bible, Job faced a lot of trouble and heartache. When he was struggling, one of his friends gave him this advice: ‘You must give your whole heart to [God] and hold out your hands to him for help…You will forget your trouble and remember it only as water gone by’ (Job 11:13-16 NCV). We need to hand everything over to God and ask Him to help us work through these situations and emotions. We can’t simply forget about them or pretend that we’re not bothered by them anymore. That will just make things harder in the long run. Instead, we need to go through the process of dealing with them so we can ultimately find healing and freedom. It’s possible for us to move on and develop emotionally, we just need to be open to the process God wants to take us through.  

What Now?

Draw a picture of a spider’s web and write on it any areas where you feel trapped by the past. Then pray over each area and ask God to help you begin the process of healing. As you find freedom from each one, cross it out.