Can Anything Good Come Out Of...

Do you know what it feels like to be judged by where you come from? Do you judge others based on where they’re from? We as a society often times judge others based on where they’ve come from, sometimes unconsciously and other times we know exactly what we’re doing. People from the South often say, “Those Yankees” or “Those Northerners” in reference to people from Pennsylvania and above on the East Coast. Those from the North may refer to Southerners as “Hicks” or comment on “Southern Hospitality” seeing it as a weakness to some degree. People from California may view “gangs” from North Carolina as a joke and picture the “block” being somewhere filled with cows and chickens. We’re all guilty of this in one way or another. The fact is, when we do this, whether we recognize it or not, in that moment, we have something in common with the same men who questioned Jesus because of where He was from.

Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? (John 7:41) They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes from Galilee!” (John 7:52) Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied. (John 1:45-46)

Let’s look at this from a different perspective. Have you ever experienced a situation in your life that was traumatizing or extremely difficult to handle? Have you been hurt? Have you been depressed? Have you experienced those who are closest to you not believing you when you told the truth about something? None of these things are easy to handle. As a matter of fact, some of the aforementioned situations have caused people to fall into a pit of despair unable to climb out. If no one has told you this before, let me be the first to let you in on something…

You CAN come out of those situations VICTORIOUS and you don’t have to be a victim the rest of your life.

Let’s go even deeper. Can Anything Good Come Out of you giving into alcohol and/or drugs in order to “forget” past experiences? Can Anything Good Come Out of an abusive relationship? Can Anything Good Come Out of being molested? Can Anything Good Come Out of recurring marital rape? Can Anything Good Come Out of your heart being broken more than once? Can Anything Good Come Out of giving birth to children with Special Needs?

Can Anything Good Come Out of those situations? The answer is…YES. Do you want to know what that Good is? The person or people who have experienced those situations who’ve chosen not to allow the situation to control their future, their mind, their emotions, their spirit, THIS is good. Allowing healing and deliverance from their pain to rule in their heart, mind and soul completely, THIS is good. Being able to live another day having surrendered their lives to God so He can show them their purpose and fulfill it through them with grace and mercy, THIS is good.

When you surrender to God, truly surrender to Him, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what you’ve done, what you’ve experienced, what people say, because you know God is sovereign meaning, He’s in control and no one and nothing can keep Him from fulfilling His purpose in your life.

It’s amazing that after being molested at the age of 15 by two adult male cousins in the same year, every day for the longest time, all I could think about were those instances. In addition to that, I thought about the fact that relatives closest to me seemed not to believe me. I felt it was my fault, thinking I was old enough to have stopped it or done something about it. It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized it wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t until I was grown and married with children that I allowed God to finally heal me from it. What Good Thing came from me being molested? Realizing I didn’t have to live my life as a victim any longer came from it. Realizing the things I’ve experienced in this life aren’t just for me to grow in my relationship with God but also to serve as a testimony to share with others so they’ll know they too can overcome their situations, their past, their hurts and be victorious. The Good that came from it is my victory in God, my peace that passes all understanding, the lives that will be changed by hearing my story and believing they too can be victorious and come out on top.

God allows us to face good days and not so good days. He allows us to experience peace and sadness. He allows us to experience difficult things in our life ultimately so He can get the glory. I’ve given what happened to me over to God and am at peace with that decision. When I see the two cousins at family functions; I no longer feel the need to “lay hands on them” to the point that they don’t wake up. I no longer become upset when I think of what they did. I no longer cry immediately or at all really when I picture what they did to me. Instead, I THANK GOD. I think of how He brought me through it and how He gave me the VICTORY. I think of how GOOD God has been to me and still is; simply because He kept me from losing my mind. I’m a stronger person because of God and what He’s brought me through. It took years for me to understand what it means to, “forgive someone for you, not for them.” I used to think that was a very foolish thing to say but now I get it. My soul doesn’t need to hold on to the anger, hurt, pain, sadness or depression of what happened to me. To hold on to that takes energy and time that I REFUSE to give. Instead, I want my soul to be filled with forgiveness, peace that passes all understanding, joy that can only come from God, deliverance, healing, every good and perfect thing that only God can give.

Can Any Good Thing Come From…YOU? ABSOLUTELY. NEVER question that again. No matter what you’ve experienced, what you’ve done, what you’ve said, what you’ve thought, you were still created by God. He spoke your name into existence before you ever entered your mother’s womb. He has a purpose just for you. If Jesus Christ, Savior to all, Son of God, can come from a small town that no one thought much of, what can come from you? Picture this, you’re God’s child and Jesus is your brother because He’s also God’s child. You may not be the Savior but you share the same DNA as The Savior and He wants you to be BLESSED, He wants you to be HEALED, He wants you to be DELIVERED. He wants you to surrender your life to God so that when you think of the circumstances you’ve faced, you’ll no longer look at yourself as a victim. Because of God’s goodness and mercy, you’ll no longer ask yourself, “Can Any Good Thing Come Out Of”…but instead you’ll say, I am ME and God makes no mistakes. You’ll begin asking God to reveal your purpose so you can fulfill it. In doing so, those who know you will see the GOOD that came out of your storms, trials, tribulations, sadness, grief, pain and depression. God is Able to make sure Goodness and Greatness come out of you but you must trust Him, believe in Him, and watch Him change your life in a way you never imagined.