We all have things that hold us back, walls that keep us from moving forward or doing what’s expected of us. What kind of barriers do you have in your life?
I’ve thought about this a lot, especially over the past year and in regards to relationships. Telling on myself a bit here, but in my past, I had struggled with good valuable friendships. Often times if I opened up to people, something would happen and my trust would be shattered and the friendship destroyed. These past experiences have unfortunately caused me to put up a wall, to guard my heart from getting close to people where I can fully open myself up to them. Other than my husband, there have been very few people that I have let fully in.
So often when things happen in our past, we let it define us and it can then cause barriers within our future. I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s done this, right? So why do we do this? Because the past cannot change and often our mind attributes to what happened in the past and we think that things will never change in the future. So what do we do? We put up walls. We create barriers. The problem is these walls and barriers can prevent us from breaking through to amazing things God has in store for us, to be able to have a fulfilling relationships with others, to forgive fully, to open up to new opportunities, etc. etc.
Putting up those walls kinda puts God in a box, doesn’t it? Thinking that because of our past, things can’t change in our future? Like God wouldn’t have the power to make things different for us?
When I was writing my novel, Unveiled Memories, I was reading about Saul in Acts. Now Saul was not a great guy. He was actually pretty bad. He hunted down Christians and anyone that helped Christians. He orchestrated executions like that of the disciple, Stephen. No matter how you look at it, this guy was going to have a past that was bloody and most would say, unforgiveable.
But that was before Christ.
Saul was on the way to Damascus when suddenly he was blinded, literally, and asked by none other than Jesus why he was persecuting His people. To which Saul asks, “Who are you, Lord?” (Acts 9:5)
I find this amusing. He asks who are you Lord. He obviously knew who had stopped him. He knew it was the Lord. But he still asked. Was it out of fear or sudden realization of what he had been doing? I don’t know, but it is interesting when you think about it, because I think deep down, he knew all along the reality of Christ and who He was.
After this encounter, Saul ended up in Damascus with Ananias giving his life to Christ, regaining his sight, and eventually becoming Paul, writer of 13 books in the New Testament.
Do you think Christ forgave him? Most definitely.
Were others as kind and forgiving? Nope, even Ananias at first was fearful of him for he knew who Saul was and all he had done.
Did that stop Saul from becoming Paul and leading others to Christ? Nope.
He didn’t let his past become a barrier to him. He didn’t let anyone, even himself, define him by what happened in the past. He wasn’t that person any longer. He kept moving forward, determined to be the one that God called him to be. Not the man he was, but the man that God had created.
We need to focus on doing the same. Not putting up walls, never hindered by our past, but striving to keep moving forward and be the person that God has called us to be. Overcoming the sins of old, rejecting the thought that the past will somehow dictate our future. Because a past that dictates is a future that brings mistakes. Let’s learn from the past, but leave it in the rearview mirror and look forward, breaking down barriers and embracing the beautiful future that God has in store!
angelaschmeling 
One response to “Breaking Barriers”
“Let’s learn from the past, but leave it in the rearview mirror and look forward, breaking down barriers and embracing the beautiful future that God has in store!”…….. I love that and well put❣️
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