Hajja Salesjana July-September 2020

11 H AJJA S ALESJANA poorest of circumstances and forced to watch a Son murdered in the most brutal fashion would be pretty bitter! But Mary was not — and all generations have seen her as blessed! Talking positively, thinking positively, and acting positively — seeing His Light at the end of the tunnel — draw the positive like a magnet. Watch that happen to you. Expect good to come — really  expect  it — and watch how, in God’s time, it alters your reality. It’s a principle of faith. It is also why we are called to hope  in the Lord. Hope leads to trust which leads to the miraculous. On the other hand, when we choose negativity, we’re drawing things that will be increasingly bad. We especially attract such negativity when we dwell on past hurts. Too often we immerse ourselves in self-pity instead of the love of God. This is where the enemy hooks into us. This is where he causes real damage! The demonic is attracted to negativity, like flies to trash, which negativity is. The way away from that? The past should never dictate our future. Through Christ, we,  not the past, should take control of what happens to us. Did He not come to grant us that victory — and life abundant ( John  10:10)? We have to tap into that. We may not be able to undo negativity in our pasts, but we have a lot to say about the future — and a positive future means a positive attitude. For this we often need forgiveness: get rid of any bitterness in your heart. Do you really want to wallow in that? Do you really need negative obsessions? Do you not notice how repeating a negativity —  dwelling on it  — keeps magnifying a painful memory? With Christ we leave past hurts in the dust of our positive outlook — which speeds us away from painful thoughts. Get up and do new things instead of sitting around remembering what was done. Bitterness is an acid, a bitter marinade, that eats away at us, and so is inertia or morbidity. Simply, do not allow yourself to get depressed. Clinical, you say? A psychological issue? Perhaps, in certain cases. But often, depression is a spiritual issue — one we can control and even  eliminate  by moving on, by praying, by making the  decision  to move forward and let our wounds heal. Dwelling on past hurts is like constantly picking on a scab — which not only inhibits healing but leaves scar tissue. Did you ever have a bad cut? Do you remember the scab that formed? And do you remember what happened if you picked at it? The same is true with our emotions. So make a decision not to be mad. Make a decision not to be sad. Make a decision to forget the wounds and let God heal them. The trials of Job? When met by faith they always turn into the greatest periods of grace . Photo by Court Cook on www.unsplash.com