Status Updates From A Painful Past: Healing and...

If your past repeats itself in some way, this is where I want you to start: Look at what your God is like. He is faithful… Always & forever. And from the secure place of knowing that this is who he is..receive his mercies and make good on them. If you have sinned in an all-too-familiar way, you can confess and repent. If you have been hurt in an all-too-familiar way, you can cry out for comfort from your Comforter.

“It would be easy to think we are just failures or damaged goods because of what we did or what was done to us. But if we dwell there, then it is as if God's grace to us lacks power. God gave his Son to give us new life. And if we hold on to that truth, receive it, and believe it, then our lament goes where it is supposed to go: we are grateful for what the Lord has done in our lives. “

“That brings us back to your story. Will you believe that Christ has authority to tell your story? Perhaps it’s easy to believe an abstract notion that ‘God is in charge.’… But let’s get more personal. Will you believe that Christ has-and should have-all authority in your life because of who he is and what he has done for you?”

Laments in Scripture "share a common structure and pattern," writes Christina Fox. "Nearly all the laments move from the negative to positive, from sorrow to joy, and from fear to trust." A lament includes three critical movements: crying out to God, asking for help, and responding in trust and praise.