Isaiah 61 gives us so much hope.

The NLT translation of the Bible titles Isaiah 61 as “Good News for the Oppressed”. This is fitting because this is exactly how trauma can leave us feeling. Oppressed under the weight of pain, shame, guilt, and/or unforgiveness. I remember that feeling; it still creeps up some days, but I am never alone on this healing venture, and neither are you.

In verses 1-3 the prophet Isaiah talks about how he has by anointed by the Lord to go out and proclaim good news and hope:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.”

There was something significant I noticed how verse 4 began:

4 “They will rebuild the ancient ruins

and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

that have been devastated for generations.”

They. Note that verse 4 begins with the word “they”. If we travel back up to the previous verses, we use context to come to the conclusion that the “they” the Prophet Isaiah is referring to is the people he has been anointed to bring the good news to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners, those who mourn, those who grieve, You, Me, Us.

Verse 4 contains such strong imagery. Ancient ruins and places long devastated. If you’ve experienced trauma, you know that it can feel disastrous. Your whole world is seemingly flipped upside down. And if we continue to walk in this hurt and pain, it can seem like we’ve been devastated for generations. And the prophet Isaiah says the devastated people will be the ones to rebuild and restore and renew.

So I got to asking God “how”? Because wow; that’s a tall order. But just like with anything else, we’re not in it alone.

God helped me to envision a devastated city. I pictured destruction. Half torn down buildings. Smoggy. Smokey. Debris everywhere. Ruins. And then it hit me. To rebuild something that has been completely broken or demolished, you don’t just start looking for all the little tiny brick fragments and trying to glue them back together to create a building that might be half as strong as the original. You have to clear the lot. You move the rubble and you start on a solid, sturdy, foundation. So there it is.

Clear the rubble

What is the Rubble that is Preventing you from rebuilding on solid ground?

Thoughts? Ideas? Your perception of yourself? Your perception of God? Your perception of others? Clear the mess.

Start to identify the lies as they come. Write them down on an index card and flip the index card and write the biblical truth that counteracts the lie on the other side. Carry that with you. It’s your weapon.

The Power of Forgiveness

There are so many scriptures about forgiveness. In the book of Matthew, Jesus is very straightforward with the disciples He was teaching when He said:

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Matthew 6:14-15

Most Christians have heard those verses before. It’s straightforward. We forgive, and then we are forgiven. If we don’t forgive, we are not forgiven. Simple.

But it's not easy.

In my own experience, forgiveness can be very difficult. It’s probably safe to say that we’ve all been sinned against in some way, at some point in time. Sometimes it can be easier to forgive, like when your spouse says something hurtful. Sometimes it takes a little more work to forgive, like when a person kills your family member, or you are subjected to abuse. These are unjust acts, and when we are sinned against in any of these ways, there are usually strong emotions that are brought to the surface. These emotions can become potential doorways for the enemy.

Walking in unforgiveness is dangerous to our mission here on Earth. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31 NIV), and if we harbor anger/hatred towards somebody who committed an unjust act against us, it makes it nearly impossible to love them in a Christ-like fashion. Jesus tells us that the enemy is out to accomplish his task of stealing, killing, and destroying. But Jesus came so that we may have life to the fullest (John 10:10 NIV). Unforgiveness is capable of destroying our relationships. Family members/friends not speaking to each other because of an offense that has been created and fueled. The enemy knows how to fan your flames. He knows what to say and do to make you feel justified in your anger. Maybe somebody did sin against you, but the hate that’s present is inside of you! It’s hurting you!

Forgiveness can be a long journey sometimes

I see it like this: the enemy wants to hurt us. Whatever act (abuse, neglect, infidelity, etc.) that sprouted into unforgiveness accomplished his goal of hurting us in the moment that the act occurred. Unforgiveness is the enemy’s way of ensuring that the hurt and destruction doesn’t only stay in that one act, but that it follows us around for as long as we’ll allow it to. We can’t always control the things that people do that hurt us, but once we’ve been hurt, we can control what we do with it.

A knife is a knife, but a murderer will use it for destruction and a surgeon will use it to heal.

Give it to God.

Author: Leticia Romney a member of Legacy Church

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