Why can't I move forward?

Over the past few years I have really enjoyed Mac products.  Macbook, Mackbook Pro, Ipod, Ipad, IMac, Iphone, etc; I just love the way that they work!  A few years ago Apple came out with an upgrade that allowed you to take off apps that you would have open.  You could now close down your twitter app or your weather app.  You could close down the espn app or a game app that you had open that allowed your battery not to drain as fast as well as allow your device to run faster!  So that once you close out things that you no longer have use for it allows your device to run a lot smoother.

            I can’t help but to liken this to many of our relationships.  One of the reasons that some of us are stuck, stagnant, and extremely slow with moving on is because we have so many people, or apps that are open in our lives that have not been closed.  There are relationships that we have had in our past that we have become attached to so much that even though the communication, recreation, and interaction between us and the other person may have ended…our attachment to them continues to be open.  Something still jumps in our spirit when we see their picture on Facebook; we still catch an attitude when someone tells us that they have seen the person with another person; and we continue to think in our minds what we may be doing with the person if we were still dating them.

            Some of you reading this have been thinking to yourself: why am I having such a difficult problem moving forward in my life, my relationships, and in life in general? Why is it that I sabotage relationships?  How come I only feel normal when people treat me negatively?  Why am I attempting to move forward while still attached to my past???  May I suggest that even though two people have physically gone their separate ways doesn’t mean the relationship has ended.

            Before I give some solutions on how you can truly move forward, let me give some suggestions on why many of us cannot move forward:

1.    The relationship ended sooner than we wanted it to.  We thought that this was the person that we would marry and spend the rest of our lives with, but instead of a wedding they walked away.  Instead of a marriage, you guys moved apart.  So you can’t move forward because you are still mentally thinking…what if?

2.    You guys got physical in the relationship.  During the relationship, there was not just hugging and kissing, you guys actually engaged in sexual activity; maybe even on a regular basis.  Scripture teaches that sexual activity leads us to becoming attached to another person.  That’s why the bible even cautions people who are married-to agree on when they will abstain from sexual activity for times of prayer and then return to it.  Engaging in sex with another person is meant to be addictive, that’s why its best reserved for married couples.  However, with couples who are unmarried, you may not be able to move on because you are still attached to the other person.

3.    There was some type of abuse in the relationship. Some people can’t move on because there was sexual, mental, emotional, or physical abuse in a past relationship.  This may cause a person to either withdraw from having future relationships OR jump into many relationships.  Some people pull away from relationships in fear that what happened to them will happen to them again while others seek out many relationships in hopes to find that one person that will treat them right!  Still there are others who won’t allow themselves to move forward in a healthy relationship because since there was so much abuse they strangely only feel comfortable in an environment that allows abuse to continue, these people are extremely hard to love because when you love them…they kick you so you can kick them back because abusing them allows them to feel normal.

This is not an exhaustive list, but just a few things that won’t allow a person to move forward.  Now, let me offer some things that a person can do so that they can positively move forward.

·      To fully break free, its probably best for the time being not to communicate with the person you need freedom from for the time being.  You need time to heal, and oftentimes healing will not take place if you are still communicating with them.  If you continue to communicate with them, you continue a “what if” cycle in your mind about a future relationship with them.

·      Lay before the Lord!!! I honestly believe that the only way to be fully free and move forward is to lay it before the Lord.  Ask God for forgiveness of anything that you did in the relationship that caused problems.  Ask God to remove the unhealthy connection that continues to attach you to the person.  While I believe God’s power can, the breaking point usually doesn’t happen after we lay this before the Lord on one occasion.  It happens after continued prayer, fasting, and dedication to His will and way!

·      Don’t get in another relationship until you a free from the last! There are countless people who believe that they can just jump into one relationship after another.  Since you are often not free from the previous relationship, you bring the attachment from the last relationship into the present relationship.  So much so, that the person never meets the real you…they get connected to the countless number of people who you are attached with.

Jesus told the Jews in the first century, whoever the Son sets free will be free indeed!  Don’t you want to be free today?  Allow Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to free you in mind, body, and spirit so that you can be all that he has destined to be!

What are you thinking about?

      In my world, I am realizing more and more that many of us have things going on in our lives right now that we don't like and are just not feeling.  Whether its a relationship, our job situation, our singleness, our financial situation, or a health condition; we all have some things going on in our lives that we wish were not there.  We wish that things had not worked out the way they did and oftentimes are envious of other people's seemingly great situation in life.

      There are so many of us who are fighting just to keep our sanity.  We can smile much and appear that everything is great and nothing is going wrong, but if the truth be told we are suffering much.  If you are like me, you can go through experiences where it seems like talking to someone won't even help much because no one truly understands what you are going through.  In fact you have tried to talk to someone, and because your situation was seemingly dismissed, ignored, or the response was unsympathetic then you withdraw even more.  In my world I felt all of these things and more.  I didn't want to be around anyone, I desired to talk to no one, and began to settle into the thinking that God must not like me.  I was content with this way of thinking until I realized something that changed my perspective: I realized that I was in a process!  In other words things in my life were going to change, I wasn't going to be where I was forever, and at some point in time there would be a shift in my situation.  However while in was in process, I could not see beyond what I was going through.

       The other problem I had (and maybe you are experiencing this now) while I was in process is that I realized it appeared easier to be depressed than it was to think positive, and Godly thoughts. For many of us, and it helps if we are brutally honest, we remain where we are because of what we allow ourselves to think about and dwell on!  The bible says in Philippians 4:8 the things that should dominate our thoughts.  Sometimes our continued cycle remains because of what we continue to think about; insomuch that the process seems so much longer because we don't have any thoughts in our mind that can pull us out.

       I challenge you today to put something positive in your mind.  Open the word of God and allow it to speak to your mind.  The word of God is so powerful that it can literally change your mind!!!  So....What are you thinking about today?