There are two trees in our neighbor’s yard. They are exactly the same kind. They are right next to each other. And yet one of them is bare of leaves while the other one is full of yellow leaves.
Why are they so different?
You know, it’s easy to look at other people and wonder why we aren’t further along in our own healing journey. We see them and we think, She’s so happy. She’s so free. She’s so joyful. I’m still so sad. I’m hurt. I’m scared. Why is it so different? Why am I still stuck?
But, my friend, I want you to know that we all grow and change and heal at our own pace. We can’t rush it. There’s nothing we can do to make it go faster, necessarily. We just have to do the work. We have to be willing to bring our hearts and our grief to God and let Him heal those broken pieces inside of us.
You know, sometimes there are layers of healing that we aren’t even aware of. Maybe we’ve dealt with the grief, but we have not yet faced the bitterness or the disappointment or the anger, and so it’s going to take a little bit longer to work through that once we’re aware.
Your healing journey is yours in the pace and the path—that’s between you and God, and I don’t want you growing frustrated that your journey might be taking a little bit longer than somebody else’s. It’s okay.
Journal Prompt
But here’s the question I want you to ask yourself: Where do you grow frustrated in your healing journey, and what are you willing to do about it? What might that next step look like for you?
Ask God, journal about it, and see what you two can come up with together. See what He might have to say to you.
Now, if you would like to learn more about journaling together with God and working through grief or trauma, then I would like to invite you to check out my Journal Gently program. In eight weeks, you can build a writing routine that will help you process some of these harder things together with God in a sacred space and in a gentle, sustainable way. If you want to learn more, just go to lovedoesthat.org/journalgently.
I don’t know if you are the yellow tree without leaves or the one full of leaves—wherever you’re at you’re healing journey, seek God for the next step. He’ll never steer you wrong.
RELATED EPISODES:
- Episode 117: Running Away From God: A Devotional Bible Study on Jonah 1
- Episode 122: Feeling Anxious? Try This 5-Minute Journaling Session
- Episode 184: Could This Be Why You’re Not Hearing from God?
You can do more than just read a Bible story; you can actually enter into the story itself and experience God.
And you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to do it.
In the Imagine devotional, you’ll dive into a different story in the Bible and get a taste of what a person’s life might have looked like as they encountered God through their specific circumstances.
Faithfulness in a Full Season
The Pressure to Be a “Good Christian”
God’s Grace for the Roads You Regret
[Book Recommendation] The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman
