Christianity is Hard When We See Life through Our Wounds Instead of Christ’s Piercings.

Past & Promises, Risk & Reward, Remember & Forget

Friend, have you ever felt like your story is stitched together more by sorrow than by Salvation? Like the weight of your experiences speak louder than God’s promises?

I know I have. Sometimes, I revisited my past experiences only to fault-find and scrutinize every decision. In these moments, I became increasingly self-conscious. At the time, I would proclaim I was "self-aware," but in reality, it was rooted in regret and shame.

It was a slippery slope where I spiraled into self-loathing and, sometimes, self-harm. The cycle was often a place of rinse and repeat, but never coming into complete deliverance because the lens I used was me, and with me at the apex, there was no grace in that space. I've spent more than one season in the spin cycle of self.

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Romans 7:24.

Christianity is hard when I see life through my wounds instead of seeing them in light of Christ's finished work. This does not suggest hiding them, for the LORD has done and continues to do a work in the space of pain.

I would have been consumed if my pain served no purpose. It would have swallowed me if I had journeyed through my past without acknowledging God’s presence and sovereign hand. The Christian life indeed is impossible if my view of God originates from my pain and skewed experiences, rather than based on who He is—a faithful loving Father, Deliverer, and Friend.

II. Risk and Reward

It's difficult to truly understand and even make sense of the past when my perspective is convoluted by hurt, betrayal, rejection, and mistakes, not only perpetrated by others but also inflected from within myself.

When I hold my past as a stand-alone experience apart from Christ, I risk letting it define me. So often, I’ve slipped into the trap of allowing my experience to become my identity, but there is a better way: the Way my soul whispers His name, “Jesus.”

I couldn't do this alone, friend. I need Jesus and continue to rely on Him every moment. Interestingly, the longer I walk with Him, the weaker I become in and of myself. There are only threads because I am undone. The longer I walk with Jesus, the more desperate my need, and the more of His face I seek.

He gently reveals trauma that has affected me deeply, things I avoided discussing due to fear of rejection and others I concealed as a way to self-protect. I am grateful that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1.

He guides me through the emotional terrain, and because He is with me, I am not trapped by the weight of shame. Grace, there is grace with Him holding space.

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

John 1:16.

In Christ, I work through the past using the lens of compassion while leaning into His loving embrace. Each step is one in the truth, knowing He is my identity, and He strengthens me. He is my healing. He is growing me. The truth is like a buoy, bringing me up from the ocean's depths, where my journey's hardest and darkest parts have been redeemed.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,

according to the riches of his grace.”

Ephesians 1:7.

I often say, “The cross changed everything,” and it has. The dead were raised to life, hearts of stone were made flesh, shame was buried, and destinies were rewritten. And yet, the past presents tangible proof of the struggle, the hurt. It yells with its megaphone, attempting to speak into the present.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling

the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

Colossians 2:13-14.

The past is real, but so is God and what Christ has done.

There is proof that each day, as I loosen my grip on what was, my hands are well able to embrace Someone infinitely more extraordinary in the present—my Rock, my Redeemer. He desires to breathe a new path forward.

Salvation didn't erase my history but reframed it. Friend, Jesus gives context to our pain, brings clarity into our now, and unveils Heaven’s whisper of a greater purpose amid Earth’s chaos.

III. Remember and Forget

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the

wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:18-19.

I love the verse penned by the prophet Isaiah. It is written in the context of the nation of Israel, concerning their captivity and deliverance, as far back as Egypt and as present (at the time it was penned ) as Babylon, and still holds profound hope for today. In many ways, we represent spiritual Israel, children of the Promise, brought about by grace through faith in Jesus. I don't want us to miss that.

The nation of Israel was instructed to anticipate the work of the Messiah to come, which would be incomparable to anything they had experienced in the past, including their deliverance—it was but a shadow.

We can also hold on to the powerful truth that Jesus's work is profound, so much so that no past experience, wrong, pain, or suffering is excluded: Everything was covered in His work!

And their hope is now our reality. We live in the Substance. I need this reminder often, especially when examining my failings and the carnage I caused. What the blood of bulls and goats could never accomplish, the Blood of Jesus has done!

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat

down at the right hand of God.”

Hebrews 10:12.

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14.

My friend, how does the knowledge of what Jesus has done change how you reflect on the past, considering that every experience—good and bad—is cleansed by the blood? Every failure, hurt, and loss is stamped PAID.

I include the good here, being completely honest, acknowledging that my pride and self-righteousness still influenced me somewhere at the root of any goodness I attained, whether through my own striving or living wayward from Christ.

The truth continues to help me. Having an abiding relationship with Jesus, trusting His word, and accepting that I am in Christ, filled with the Spirit, is foundational in my healing.

Friends, the Spirit is our helper, compass, and guide. Now, we use the lens of His grace and the light of His love to see everything, including our past. The lens of grace takes our eyes off of self and places them squarely on Him.

As we reflect, we can remember the lessons of the past, recognizing God's sovereign providence over the journey, His limitless forgiveness in the struggles, His strength in our weakness, and His hand of deliverance guiding us forward.

IV. Scripture Provides Context

Before we close, I want to submit two examples; I pray they will encourage you.

The first is of the nation of Israel in Numbers chapters 23-24. In these passages, Balak, the king of Moab, was in fear of Israel because of their conquest of the Amorites. He asked a diviner, Balaam, to curse Israel, but he couldn't, for the LORD had given a command to bless.

The tribes of Israel were instructed to camp in precision formation, which, from an aerial view, takes the shape of the Cross with the Ark of the Covenant (the presence of God) in the center. They may not have been able to see it, but we are given whole counsel to understand it.

Israel had been wayward, complaining, and doubtful of God’s presence and providence throughout their wilderness wanderings, as recorded in the Book of Exodus, so we have an idea of their character (not so far from ours)—yet this is how the Lord saw them: “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!” Numbers 24:5.

They may not see themselves as God’s inheritance, but He does. We must see ourselves as He does as well. All that we have belongs to God. All that we are and will be is in Him.

“The past is not in the believer’s possession, for the Blood of Jesus paid for it.”

—Unknown.

The second is to remember the experience of the Old Testament saints. We are given privy to read so many detailed accounts and yet God’s account of their lives in the Hall of Faith found in Hebrews 11 is vastly different from what we know of them in the Scriptures.

When we review our past, present, and even the future may we embrace the grace made available to us that allows us to contextualize, then see it through His point of view.

V. Practical Grace.

Here are five steps to shift our perspective from dwelling on our wounds to embracing His scars.

Acknowledge Christ—remember that He is present, and we stand in His presence. Then abide in the secret place.

Surrender to Jesus—actively place everything into His nail-pierced hands. This isn’t a one-time event but something we do repeatedly.

Reframe the Narrative—see life through the cross. Then, ask the Lord to show you how to filter everything through His purposes and promises.

Walk in Redemption—embrace each step as a place of healing and moving forward. We may stumble, but it is an upward stumbling in Christ because it isn't based on what we do but on what Christ has done.

Wounds a Space for Worship—set up remembrance stones to reflect on His glory and worship Him for all the miracles, large and small. Let's allow our scars to be the witness of His love, kindness, and the power of the Gospel.

Freedom Has A Voice

She surrendered to the One who is and makes all things new,

And resolved that her past was no longer a prison,

but a testimony of His redeeming love.

The hurt that once defined her are now scars that testify of healing.

The shame that once silenced her, by His grace, is a song of praise.