We’ve all heard the infamous quote that circulates every January: “New year, new you.” I don’t know what that actually means, do you?! The truth is that we bring ourselves with us from the previous year into the new one. And whatever unfinished business we have hanging on, well, it gets dragged into the new year.
Another way to explain what I mean here is to use a metaphor of reading books.
We never pick up a novel, or any book for that matter, and start at chapter 5 or 10 or 15. Instead we start at the beginning and work our way through. Why do we do that? Obviously it’s because the latter chapters don’t make sense without understanding the development of the characters and the story from the first page on.
When I think about the concept of unfinished business, I can’t help but think of our families of origin. Families have a way of pushing buttons and triggering reactions in all of us, reactions that usually are based on former “chapters” in our life “books.”
The reality is that if we want to grow and heal, we will better understand ourselves in the present (particularly when we have an 8+ reaction to a level 4 situation) if we are willing to trace the big responses back to their origin.
I love Psalm 18:24 in The Message Bible which says, “God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes.”
How cool is that to hear that God wants us to open up our life book to Him and in doing so He will rewrite our story as His truth replaces the lies, the pain, the hurts.
As we get further into this new year, I invite you to look in, look at, and look back. It’s not just a ploy to blame or even excuse, but is a call to vulnerability and honesty. Those childhood puzzle pieces that came into play during our early “chapters” (a.k.a. ages) 1, 3, and 5, for example, clearly impact and influence chapters 19 and 24 and 38 and 51.
Why not start today by asking yourself a question that take courageous introspection: Where is there pain in one of your life chapters that needs a touch from the living God to restore and heal? The first step towards freedom is admitting that there is a need and God is ready to bring His healing touch to your life as you open the book of your heart to His eyes.
Hi Michelle,
It’s Eugene over at the +Parenting blog. This is so well put! And two big thumbs up for the Abba Project!
Michelle, I love how you’re putting our story into perspective. Indeed, what we do today can influence chapters down the road. Thank you for the encouragement to revisit some of those earlier places so that we can be stronger for the future ones. Love you!