History or Destiny

Life has a habit of delivering an earthquake just when it feels like things are balanced and on track. Something changes; something is painful and seems unbearable. The choice before you is a season of mourning or a lifetime of mourning. Do you remain in the pain or walk through the rain? The real choice is whether your life will be about history or destiny; that which has passed or that which is before you.

While the choice seems obvious it is far easier to get stuck living a life of history rather than believing in a future that is completely different from yesterday. Significant events can shake our world and our faith. Suddenly what we thought we could count on disappears like a rug pulled swiftly out from under our feet. This sudden shift can leave us afraid to believe we can ever stand on anything we can believe in again. It takes a leap of faith to walk forward in the rain believing it will reside, that the sun will shine as brightly again. Significant events create significant change.

The real choice is whether you can let go of the pain and accept change or embrace the pain and remain in a comfort zone that has been irreparably altered. You can't put back something that is gone. Efforts to replicate what has been lost frequently lead to unhealthy relationships filled with more pain. The only other option is to embrace the change, a frightening notion for most people.

Some people choose the 'survivor syndrome.' This compels you to remain in the pain filled void, almost in martyrdom, while proclaiming that while you can't change what has happened, you can survive it. When Moses attempted to lead his people to the Promised Land they spent 40 years walking around the same mountain just next door to the paradise they were seeking. They refused to make or accept a change opting instead for taking just another lap for you and me. Complaining loudly all the way, they were surviving an unnecessary grueling path. These people lived in history while their destiny was a short change away. We all have that choice sometime in our life.

You can make a conscious choice to accept what you cannot change and begin walking in the rain. Or you can choose to accept change when remaining in place becomes scarier than taking the chance to embrace a different and new normal. Behind you or in front of you... it's always your choice.