East to West
Where to begin? Have you ever experienced something that was so wonderful, so intense, so unbelievably amazing that it changed you forever....only it's so personal that you can't share it with anyone? I'm in that place this morning, and I wish I could tell you the whole story. The challenge now is to tell you what I've learned without sharing how I learned it. Hmmmm......
In the Contemporary English Version of the Bible, 2Corinthians 5:17 reads this way: "Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new." Wow. If you considered yourself a "pretty good person" before you came to faith in Christ, this may not be as profound and precious a revelation as it is to people like me. Let me explain.
Even as an unbeliever, I lived under a dark shadow of shame. In most anyone's estimation, my way of life was considered unholy. Substance abuse and promiscuity abounded, and people judged me harshly for that. What they didn't know was that the debilitating pain of deep heart wounds motivated my behavior. I was afraid, alone, and deep down, I believed I was an unlovable lost cause. I would do anything to not hurt, even for a little while. I didn't think I'd ever get it together, and really, I was right.
It took Christ crashing into my life one beautiful day in California to change me. Six years ago, I encountered Him, and His mercy overwhelmed me. I never knew that I was exactly the kind of sinner He came to save. I never really believed that I was His treasure. I never knew that there is no such thing as 'too far gone' in God's kingdom. And so a new beginning began.
For six years now, He's been working on me. He's been setting me free, one by one, from all the heart issues that once bound me. To name a few, there was shame, fear of rejection, fear of failing, regret. The list goes on. What I've realized along the way is that His hard work was done on the cross; the only hard work I have is in surrendering those things to Him. It's hard to let go of the familiar, even if it's bad.
So my great Counselor continues to work with me on all my stuff. And the proof continues to emerge that He really has made a new creation out of me. I will thank Him forever because each chain He breaks sets me free from my past. This is how the "past is forgotten." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Here's the lesson He has made real to me recently. For years, I've heard it said that "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12) I didn't really get it until I heard someone teach on this Scriputre. This is what I learned. Starting from where you are right now, if you began travelling north, you would eventually end up at the North Pole. If you continued to travel in the same direction after reaching the northernmost point on the globe, you would then be heading south again. This is why God didn't say 'I have removed your sins from you as far as the north is from the south.' That would mean we would run into them again!
BUT, if you began travelling East and stayed on that path, you could never find west. To find west again, you would have to turn completely around and travel the other way. Geographically, east goes on forever. That is how far my past sins are from me. And unless I choose to go back, those sins and their power in my life are gone from me forever.
In the Contemporary English Version of the Bible, 2Corinthians 5:17 reads this way: "Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new." Wow. If you considered yourself a "pretty good person" before you came to faith in Christ, this may not be as profound and precious a revelation as it is to people like me. Let me explain.
Even as an unbeliever, I lived under a dark shadow of shame. In most anyone's estimation, my way of life was considered unholy. Substance abuse and promiscuity abounded, and people judged me harshly for that. What they didn't know was that the debilitating pain of deep heart wounds motivated my behavior. I was afraid, alone, and deep down, I believed I was an unlovable lost cause. I would do anything to not hurt, even for a little while. I didn't think I'd ever get it together, and really, I was right.
It took Christ crashing into my life one beautiful day in California to change me. Six years ago, I encountered Him, and His mercy overwhelmed me. I never knew that I was exactly the kind of sinner He came to save. I never really believed that I was His treasure. I never knew that there is no such thing as 'too far gone' in God's kingdom. And so a new beginning began.
For six years now, He's been working on me. He's been setting me free, one by one, from all the heart issues that once bound me. To name a few, there was shame, fear of rejection, fear of failing, regret. The list goes on. What I've realized along the way is that His hard work was done on the cross; the only hard work I have is in surrendering those things to Him. It's hard to let go of the familiar, even if it's bad.
So my great Counselor continues to work with me on all my stuff. And the proof continues to emerge that He really has made a new creation out of me. I will thank Him forever because each chain He breaks sets me free from my past. This is how the "past is forgotten." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Here's the lesson He has made real to me recently. For years, I've heard it said that "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12) I didn't really get it until I heard someone teach on this Scriputre. This is what I learned. Starting from where you are right now, if you began travelling north, you would eventually end up at the North Pole. If you continued to travel in the same direction after reaching the northernmost point on the globe, you would then be heading south again. This is why God didn't say 'I have removed your sins from you as far as the north is from the south.' That would mean we would run into them again!
BUT, if you began travelling East and stayed on that path, you could never find west. To find west again, you would have to turn completely around and travel the other way. Geographically, east goes on forever. That is how far my past sins are from me. And unless I choose to go back, those sins and their power in my life are gone from me forever.
I have experienced the rapturous joy the reality of that freedom can bring. I tasted it. For one perfect moment, God's loving hand touched me in a way it never could before when all that junk was between us. It was absolute heaven, and I will never turn back to the west again.
In His amazing love,
Amy
copyright 2010, Amy Wallace
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