July 5, 2015
Yesterday I went to a funeral, but I didn’t shed any tears, and I wasn’t saddened about my loss.
When I left, I felt more “free,” more fulfilled and more faithful than I have in many years.
You see, at this funeral I didn’t bury a loved one…I buried the toxins that were poisoning my heart, mind, body and soul. The poisons that were killing the quality of my life and making me question the core of my existence.
I closed the casket on old sins, hurtful thoughts, words and actions that I engaged in so that I would no longer have to struggle for significance.
I placed on the coffin some flowers of complacency, confusion and lack of clarity about the direction my life should take because I knew that I would rather travel down the road to an “uncomfortable heaven” than remain living in a “comfortable hell.”
I lowered the bodies of negativity, distress, shame, doubt and blame into the ground…Six feet below just because I knew I didn’t need them anymore. I laid to rest my fear of the unknown and “misunderstood” in my life…having greater clarity with God on my side.
And you know what?
I walked away from that funeral knowing I could be and would be
Better
Stronger.
Ready.
And blessed.
You see this was a funeral of rejoicing and resurrection of the soul that I thought I lost a long time ago.
It was a celebration of my new strength and my brand new shields of grace, hope, mercy, and faith…My stronger back to lean on and my taut legs to stand tall with.
This funeral allowed me to release all of those things that caused me to “hold back.”
The things that held me back from love, trust, laughter, and forgiveness…
It released the shackles of anger and allowed me to smile again…
Ah yes, this wasn’t just an “ordinary” funeral because it was an “extraordinary” release.
Sometimes we have to become our own funeral directors to conduct the home going services for those things in our lives that need to be permanently buried…We have to let go of the negative toxins so we can cleanse our souls in preparation for the good that God has prepared for our lives.
After all, why should we bind ourselves to our past when God has already set us free to live in the now and in the enriched future?
We only have to believe it.
We only have to feel it.
And we only have to allow it.
Your past will not and cannot hinder you from traveling along the path that God has created for you…But you have to believe it and get ready for that funeral.
Our God is a God of “second chances” because he gives us what we need to become resilient, rejuvenated and restored so we can rejoice in the discovery of our untapped potential.
But we have to bury the dead, negative energy in our lives before we can claim the destiny that God has bestowed upon us.
And it starts with the funeral.
Yes, the death of a loved one can feel as though it is “killing you softly” but the demise of anguish, despair, hurt and pain can only prepare you for what lies ahead…The best is yet to come.
Lesson: Bury the past. Bury the hurt. Bury the pain. Bury whatever is stopping you from “bouncing back” so you can “Get Over It.”