6 Steps to Leaving Your Baggage in the Past

Relationships/Marriage

6 Steps to Leaving Your Baggage in the PastIs the baggage from the past getting heavy? Put it down! Baggage from past relationships, trauma, and childhood gets carried into the present until it is dealt with. This emotional weight strains a person’s mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational health. Can God make a way to leave the heavy baggage behind? Yes. Here are six steps to take to lighten the load.

  1. Agree with God that there’s a problem from the past, and confess it.
    No one can overcome an issue until they acknowledge it. There’s a reason for every feeling—anger, joy, or bitterness. God’s word for “agree” is the word “confess.” To confess something means to agree that it is true. When it comes to baggage that is bothering an individual, they must recognize that things have gone wrong – either done to them or done by them – and agree with God or “confess,” that they have happened and affected them deeply. (more…)

Clearing Away the Mess

Addiction/Recovery

Clearing Away the Mess“God says, ‘Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity‘”—Isaiah 57:14

If you’re driving on a single lane road and encounter a fallen tree or powerline, what should you do? You could drive around the mess or do a U-turn, but someone must eventually clear away the clutter to make the road usable.

When Israel had been exiled, God told the prophet Isaiah, “I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway!! I will lead them. I will comfort those who mourn” (Isaiah 57:18). God called Isaiah to be a prophet when he was overwhelmed with his struggles. But he turned to God anyway and was delivered from his failures. (more…)