When the memory and the moment meet..

Let God create something new.

By Hannah L. Halverson

Where is God in the midst of pain? When the memory and the moment meet? When what was feels like what is? Where is God?

God is with me in the pain.

He is in the middle of it all, using it for good. He is inviting me to press into the pain and come through to the other side of healing. Healing doesn’t come by erasing the memory. Healing is found by retracing the path one step at a time. There are lessons of wisdom to be learned as the steps are retraced. The same God that was with me in pain of the memory, is the same God that is with me in the pain of the moment. He is allowing this to heal me, not to harm me. By walking through what is familiar, I introduce the memory to the moment. I learn that neither is my truth. My truth is found in the courage it takes to face the pain.

Where there is pain, there is an opportunity to know God.

The reminder of pain is an opportunity to heal. When the memory meets the moment…when what was seems like what is…I can heal by clinging to God and pressing through.

As the healing begins through the memory, I am changed in the moment. The moment then refines me instead of letting the pain define me. It is a moment where the pain ends and a new memory begins. Facing the pain feels like weakness. I am humbled by the tears. The Bible says that through weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties of life is where I can discover my strength in Christ. When I am weak, He is strong. The moment of facing my weakness leads to the cross. As I lay down the burden of my pain, an exchange happens. Christ’s power rests on me and I am healed. Through my weakness, I gain strength.

When the memory and the moment meet, God can do something new.

The path may look familiar. The steps may seem the same. What was may resemble what is, but one truth remains. Healing is the birthplace of change. And that change is within me. The memory has healed and the moment has become something new. By facing the pain, I gain strength through my weakness, and wisdom through the healing.

Where there is pain, there is an opportunity to know God.

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses. So that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak then I am strong.