Without much thought, you and I can likely recite a list of meaningful or important dates. The date we were born. The date we met our significant other. The birth of family members, marriages, or the first day of a new job.
We delight in the dates associated with joy-filled experiences, or those events and situations that serve as milestones to important moments in our life.
And then there are the other kind. Those that may trigger unsettledness, pain, or some kind of emotional upset. Most of us know what these dates are and typically make one of two choices—ignore them, or mutter and mumble about them with disgust, or worse.
If there is fun and joy in recalling the date of something pleasant, why then, need we concern ourselves with those that stir discomfort?
In a word—healing. Wait a minute, that doesn’t make sense. It does—if you allow yourself to consider the possibility God may desire to work through the time markers of certain experiences in order to free us from the dark thoughts and feelings that may haunt us from time-to-time.
For example . . .
I used to be able to tell you the exact dates associated with the diagnosis and treatment of several health issues in the last five years. Now, with a great sense of peace, I am hard pressed anymore to recall the specifics. And that is a good thing.
First off, I’m not talking about being in denial about has happened. Of greater significance is that at one point I realized God was inviting me to share ALL of my heart. It took some time. However, it became clear that when I thought of a specific date [hernia surgery, breast cancer diagnosis and so forth] all kinds of stuff got stirred up. A veritable buffet of emotions and magnified misery. The resolution?
I had to take responsibility for what I was thinking and feeling. Once I identified the anger, fear, and sadness associated with the unpleasant memories, the next step was to trust God to guide me through the darkness that enveloped me. Over time, the thoughts and feelings began to lose their potency. Eventually, when a date would pop to the forefront, it would almost as quickly disappear.
There is little doubt our brains are complicated. In many ways, this little globe of gray matter is as unknown as the most distant galaxy. At the same time, the reality is we cannot erase the events of our life totally from our awareness. Nevertheless, we need not be held captive by feelings, thoughts, choices, and actions that are unhealthy or unloving—toward others or ourselves.
In that light, this Scripture is one of my favorites:
“I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” [Romans 12:1-2]
Do certain dates stir unpleasant thoughts? Why?
How do I feel when the darker emotions seem to envelope me?
Can I let go and trust God to heal those hurting places in my mind, body, and spirit?
