No More Wasted Years
By Norma Miller
January 1, 2017
Just a simple line spoken over me, but such grace and wonder it held. "The things of the past, the pain, the mistakes, are not a waste. God will use those things in a wonderful way."
I always knew God was able to use everything in our lives for good, even the bad things, but I still had a mindset that suggested that some seasons of my life were simply wasted, thrown away, and irretrievable. I found myself unable to move forward as I wanted to because I wanted a do-over. God doesn't give us do-overs, my friends. He gives us something better! He gives us second chances, yes, but He gives us something much better than that. He has the ability to make something totally wonderful, beautiful and new from our mistakes and from our sin! The only thing we need to do is to confess it, repent, and give it to Him!
Let's face it; we have all done things that we are not proud of, those devastating seasons we'd love to forget, those lost things we hope to regain, the deep grief of things that happened in the past. They happened in the past, but somehow they just won't stay in the past because we can't seem to move on, and the memories keep haunting us.
Or perhaps we can't move on from hurts caused by others, or offences that remain to steal our peace. The torment of bitterness and unforgiveness is unparalleled and it keeps festering deeper and deeper, causing great pain and void.
This is a season in which God offers great grace for us to release those things into His hands, so they truly are His and no longer ours! When we make the decision to transfer these things from our hands to His all-capable ones, we give Him permission and control to turn these ashes into something beautiful and as a result, all those mistakes, hurts, failures, and disappointments are so totally NOT WASTED! This is true redemption , my friends! Jesus has already paid the price, it is up to us to receive this amazing, free gift!
No longer do the things of the past need to weigh us down, steal our joy and peace, and instead, we have the opportunity to stand in awe and amazement at the beautiful way He turns our sorrows and grief into joy unspeakable and full of glory!
There is no such thing as wasted years when they've been placed in His hands. It's ALL good! Because He makes it good. He has already accomplished all in His suffering, death, burial, and resurrection. He paid the full price. It's done. All that is left is for us to open our hearts completely so we can receive the fullness of His healing power in our lives.
Let's those difficult things to Him today, so we can release the hurt, pain, bitterness, and sorrow of the past, and be gloriously free to walk into the destiny, the plans He has for us!
— Norma Miller
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