Boxes

At any given moment, each of us is comprised of a multitude of “boxes”. These boxes were empty when we were born. And as we have grown, our experiences, genetics, education, relationships, talents, beliefs, etc have funneled into these boxes filling each one to different levels and available in memory, in most cases, at a moment’s notice. This intricate collection is responsible for how we react in stressful, painful, happy and challenging situations. Infinite combinations of each box make up how we react to the world around us. Although each box is separate, ultimately, they are all connected in some unique way.

Each of us is intricately fashioned - intentionally by God. He made us in His image and His purpose is for all of us to function in spiritual, emotional and physical health.

When we are born, we are pure. But as we age, so many of us get covered with a multitude of painful emotional, spiritual, and psychological “mud”. Each challenging experience we go through adds yet another layer until sometimes all we can “see” is the mud. The trials God allows us to go through are intended to help us grow and ultimately make us stronger. But oftentimes we can get stuck in the mud along the way. No matter where we are at, our lives ultimately reflect the boxes that are filled the most. 

The more we focus on the negative boxes in our life, the more unhappy we will be. If we take the more optimistic approach, that will yield a more positive outlook. We all continue on in our “mud” unless there is some type of intervention that exposes the mud for what it is - muck and mire, which we were not created to live in. Don’t get me wrong, God says to expect “mud” aka trials and tribulations BUT to be of good cheer because He [Jesus] has overcome the world [we live in] 1 Peter 4:12-13.

“oftentimes we can get stuck in the mud along the way. ”

I don’t know about you, but up until just recently - try as I did, that scripture just never held weight with me to be cheerful in the midst of suffering. Really? Um NO! I am HURT, I am ANGRY, I am FRUSTRATED! How do I walk in GOOD CHEER?!! I am too busy licking my “wounds!”

Now I learned the following a LONG time ago. But it finally resonated in me: Feelings and emotions are of the flesh. Yah, so what? Our flesh was crucified when we became alive in Christ. The battle is already won for EACH of us no matter WHAT it is. To walk in good cheer is a quiet contentment that conveys “it is well with my soul - NO MATTER WHAT.” It says “I trust You God with this. You are bigger than this circumstance and You are working all things together for MY GOOD right now.” Be honest! Tell Him your heart is aching and ask Him to hold your heart while He walks you through!

Sometimes the trials may manifest as challenging marriages, a loved one is diagnosed with a disease, a job is lost, painful childhoods, the examples are endless. We then commonly struggle to figure out the messes on our own. We turn to Google, self help books, friends, church and/or counseling, which can turn into pricey months and even years. Hopefully we turn less to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain, but that can happen as well if we choose to run from our painful boxes instead of confronting and dealing with them.

“How do I walk in GOOD CHEER?!! I am too busy licking my “wounds!””

My life was RIDDLED with ongoing trials and consistently accompanied with wrong worldly thought patterns, low self esteem, anger, and so much more. And sadly, I was ignorant of most of it! I always felt like I was a victim in most cases and I was justified in my reactive choices. A handful of my relationships were perpetually a mess and so I began crying out to God to enlighten me. I tried to solve my problems in my own strength with all the things mentioned above. And I existed this way for about 45 years! It wasn’t until about three years ago that I really got serious and transitioned from trying to fix things myself to realizing all of it was a spiritual issue that could only be truly fixed by God. My new battle cry became “WHAT IS UP WITH ME?!!”

Over time and true to His word, God has continued to lift me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he has set my feet on a rock and has given me a firm place to stand” (Psalm 40:2).

That firm place is revelation of His truth which will ALWAYS, 1.) blow the lid off any hidden box and 2.) trump ANY physical or emotional bandaid we attempt to apply to whatever it is. 

How many of us struggle with healthy coping skills? I am raising my hand right a long with you. It has been a rough road for me, speckled with huge pot holes. Rarely did I ever have a firm foothold let alone a heathy perspective. I constantly meditated on negative things, aspects and circumstances that continued to happen throughout my life insisting I had nothing to do with them. And I most likely would have stayed that course had I not had a divine paradigm shift which then invited the light of Truth to invade the painful boxes I had kept neatly hidden in the darkness. Eventually God exposed the lies I had believed which were responsible for me keeping the lids on those boxes I didn’t want exposed - so many I had held onto since childhood.

The boxes are different for everyone, but generally the ones we hide away contain the scary, painful, difficult past memories or even current truths we don’t want to exert the effort to deal with because it hurts too much. We tend to move forward and ultimately live day to day and skirt around the muck and mire that is still part of us. THAT box reveals our vulnerability. It exposes us. THAT’S the stuff we DON’T want to deal with! 

I have lived a life blanketed with so much adversity, that personally, I prefer the happy boxes, the positive boxes, the forward thinking boxes. However, like I mentioned before, God desires that ALL areas in our lives are healed, healthy and whole with nothing missing, nothing broken and we are complete in every way. His desire is that we be willing to give Him ALL the boxes - good AND bad and trust Him to handle ALL of them. I had picked and chosen what to give Him at my own expense and detriment. 

In our journey of faith and growth, We need to acknowledge, that we are NEW creations in Christ and everything in our past was buried with our old lives the very second we invited Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives. Once we became alive in Christ, all our OLD was made NEW. We must learn that all the past trials, battles, and mishaps and the ones that are to come, are already solved through Christ. Our human eyes just can’t see the solution or the outcome in the midst of the circumstance. But God sees all of it.

Psalm 121:1-2 says ”I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Our help comes from the Lord. He is always waiting for us to just ask Him. But here’s the catch: If we ask Him for help, we have to be willing to wait for and trust His answer and solution to unfold. In the meantime, we have to do the things He tells us to in His word. We have to believe for His guidance, leading, help and solution. We have to actively align our thinking to God’s Word, see with His eyes and hear with His ears. Essentially, while He is making all things good, You do You! Focus on obeying and trusting Him with the painful boxes in your life. Allowing ourselves to being willing to confront the difficult areas in our pasts or current lives is actually us cooperating with God’s will to restore us. We partner with that restoration unfolding in our life when we choose to yield to God’s will instead of our own. 

The most painful thing I have ever done - but that has yielded the most growth in my life was to stop pointing my finger at people who I thought were causing my misery. I decided to turn my eyeballs around and look at myself. I chose to STOP running, stop trying to figure everything out and ask God to invade the situation of me seeing the true me - the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s based on Psalm 139:23-24, "Search me O God and know my heart, test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me on the way of everlasting life."

Joshua 1:9 says “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” That means if we hand over those ugly painful “boxes” we have chosen to keep hidden and allow God to lift the lids and shine the light of His truth into them, He will set us free from the hindrances that have kept us emotionally bound. When we keep those emotional boxes hidden, we actually think we are protecting ourselves, but really we are kidding ourselves into thinking what’s hidden and undealt with doesn’t affect us. It takes great bravery and courage to ask God to show us who we truly are and then to further ask Him to transform us into what He has called us to be. 

There’s no getting around it. God’s word obliterates any sound human reasoning to not be truly set free. We rationalize, dismiss, evade, ignore, and diminish truth. God is the Creator of the universe, the air we breath, and us. His truth reigns whether we believe or not and whether we jump on board or not. God’s truth will continue with or without us but it’s a whole lot better for us if we actively participate. Choosing to live in the light is the narrow road, which is always harder but the results end in freedom, liberation and abundant life.

“It takes great bravery and courage to ask God to show us who we truly are and then to further ask Him to transform us into what He has called us to be. ”

Father I pray the blood of Jesus over each reader and ask that you give them Your eyes to see and Your ears to hear. Reveal Your truth about them to themselves. Give them strength and courage to confront their painful boxes. I pray that they would be transformed and set free from all that has hindered them from moving forward. Restore them to what You have purposed them to be. Deliver them from circumstances, thought patterns and belief systems that have bound them from growing in Your truth. In Jesus name, amen.

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