Freedom to Move On

Have you ever experienced something that is so painful that it keeps you on your knees in prayer and your prayer is not only for it to be resolved, but for it to not hurt so much? The pain becomes a reminder to pray, but you want to get through your day not remembering, or being reminded of your loss, your hurt, your pain. You want to be freed from it so that you can just enjoy your life.

As a Christian I have sometimes prayed to forget the things that bring me pain, even though I know that those painful thoughts and memories bring me to my knees in prayer. The thing that keeps me on my knees is the pain of the wound, but all I want is to not feel that pain.

I remember when I first realized that God had granted my prayer to forget, and more than a week without painful memories had gone by. Because of the hectic pace of my life I had not thought about my wound. Once I realized it, I felt thankful to God, but then I experienced something else. I experienced guilt. I hadn’t prayed that whole time about the situation. I had experienced blissful amnesia and had gone about my days as if the situation no longer existed.

Wasn’t I supposed to pray without ceasing (1Thessalonians 5:17)? The scripture intruded on my thoughts, because clearly nothing had changed about the situation. The only thing that changed was that I had experienced a brief period where I had stopped focusing on my hurt and had moved on. This was great for me, but I felt that the situation changing was dependent on my faithful continuous praying about it. By not praying for that week, had I given up on my prayer, had I displayed a lack of faith? What about the scripture that says that if you lack faith you will not receive from the Lord (James 1:7)? These were my thoughts at that time.

God’s word is so comforting, it didn’t disappoint during that time of confusion either because God brought me to the story of Zachariah in Luke 1:13–18. What does that scripture have to do with my situation? In this scripture we see Zachariah’s encounter with the angel who tells him that his prayer for a child was to be answered. Zachariah’s response to this good news is to point out to the angel the obvious, that he and Elizabeth his wife are way past child-bearing years.

I realized that Zachariah at one point probably prayed earnestly and continuously for his wife to have a child. Who knows how many years he may have prayed for this? Elizabeth’s status however did not change over many years, they remained childless. Once she entered menopause it would have made sense that he probably stopped praying and just moved into acceptance that they would not be blessed with a child.

To say the angel’s declaration was a surprise is an understatement. Zachariah’s response indicated he was no longer in a place of expectancy, but in a place of acceptance of his situation. Zachariah had moved on, was living his best life with a circumstance that was unwanted but one he didn’t have any power to effect.

As a consequence of questioning the angel Zachariah’s speech was taken away until his baby was born, probably to keep him from verbalizing his disbelief about the situation. Whatever the reason, I love that Zachariah’s story is in the bible because it encourages me today.

Zachariah’s story tells me that it’s OK to let go of the pain and hurt and go on with your life even if the situation you are praying for shows no sign of resolution. You don’t need to hold on to the hurt, anger, resentment, pain so that you can remember to pray. No prayer is unheard, or wasted. God is working on it in His time; we don’t need to micromanage and look over his shoulder. He is not obligated to get back to us about what stage the resolution is in. The idea of praying without ceasing doesn’t mean that you are to be constantly obsessed with thoughts of your situation or circumstance so you can keep it before the Lord in prayer. God has heard your prayer; you can now move on and live your best life. Yes there will be moments when the memories intrude and try to overwhelm you, there will be tears and feelings of hurt, but there will also be peace when you allow God to comfort you.

When you let go and just let Him work it out he not only brings you a relief from the pain he also gives you joy that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), and beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3). What a great deal. So let’s move into expectancy that one day an angel will visit with good news. At that time our response, unlike Zachariah’s, will display a confidence in God’s ability and willingness to grant our prayers. “Lord, I have been waiting for you, Thank You.”