Ignoring something does not make it go away!

So something that I have discovered in the past few weeks is something that I've always known but has really been brought to my attention today.

I'm sure I have mentioned it previously that I haven't been feeling 100% lately. I've had a sore throat and an on going cough that started off bad but has gotten better since then. The problem is today, my throat is extremely sore, the cough is still there, and now I can feel a pain in my ear when I swallow and one side of my face is feeling hot... something tells me that there's more to this than just a little bit of a cold.

It's made me realise the importance of not simply ignoring things. Me trying to ignore my illness will not make it go away, the same as when we try to ignore the memories of the past, or the feelings of when someone hurt us. Ignoring the feelings and the memories will not make them go away.

There are a lot of things in life that we try to ignore, when we don't want to deal with them, but holding onto them just ends up causing more pain in the long run. Most people that I am aware of don't want more pain, they want less. I know I would,especially now with my throat, I almost don't want to eat or drink because it's too painful. So when we try to ignore things, they stick around, and they keep us from doing things that we should be doing. I should be eating and drinking, but I don't want to because it hurts. When we've been hurt by someone, God may ask us to do something for them, but we wont want to because it hurts. When we've got memories of the past and we've tried to ignore them but then God places us in a similar situation again, it hurts. Ignoring something doesn't lead to a better life, it leads to more pain down the road.

So what should we do? How do we move on from the past? I wish I had all the answers, but the truth is.... I don't. There are still things that come up in my own life where I realised I had pushed feelings aside and ignored them, when they resurface it's painful. In those times, I turn to God, I ask Him where these feelings have come from, I pray for healing and I ask for His help in moving on from them. Each time is different, some times the healing is easy, sometimes it's hard and it takes time. But whenever I have needed healing, to move on, He has always provided it. He doesn't want us living in pain, no more than we want to live in pain... and we DON'T want to live in pain at all!

Psalm 119:105 says "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path" so let Him be your light in those dark situations.

I guess for myself, it's time to sit down and look at the lesson that God is teaching me right now about ignoring things. Maybe there's something in my own life that I continue to ignore that He wants to address. Maybe it's time I let go of something else from my past. I'm not quite sure what it could be yet but we'll soon see I guess.

Thankful for: A great housemate

I moved houses today, and thanks to having a great housemate everything went smoothly, no hassles. She is one very organised person, and pretty much organised most of the move. So I'm thankful that I have such a great person in my life that is a pleasure to live with.