Denial – Reaching Hurting Women Ministries

October 30, 2013June 25, 2016

The Next WRONG Thing???

It’s no big surprise that choices come with consequences.

Why is it so difficult for us to see ahead? To play the movie all the way to the end?

Maybe it’s a simple matter of denial. I know a wrong choice made by someone else gets a bad result for them. But somehow I think I’m special. I won’t get that same bad result. Newsflash to self…

No Wrong Choices = No Wrong Consequences!

Don’t be misled; remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it: a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows! If he sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death; but if he plants the good things of the Spirit, he will reap the everlasting life that the Holy Spirit gives him. ~ Galatians 6:7-9 LB

Sometimes we need a miracle to do the next right thing!

If you can’t see the video screen below click here for a great song by Seth Glier.

Image credit: alphaspirit / 123RF Stock Photo

January 2, 2013June 25, 2016

The Road to Recovery :: STEP ONE

Step One:

We admitted we were powerless over the effects of our separation from God–that our lives had become unmanageable.

I know nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ~ Romans 7:18

Principle One (Celebrate Recovery):

Realize I’m not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. ~ Matthew 5:3

The pain of remaining the same has finally become greater than the fear of change. After spending a lifetime hiding from or numbing our pain, it’s time to surrender and face our pain head on.

This first step requires that we recognize our brokenness so our healing process can begin. We can’t heal a wound unless we admit it exists; we must face and admit our denial.

The Celebrate Recovery Bible has a wonderful acrostic for DENIAL:

D – disables our feelings.

E – energy drain.

N – negates our growth.

I – isolates us from God.

A – alienates us from other human relationships.

L – lengthens our pain.

We should now ask ourselves:

In what way have I isolated myself from God and others?

How do I disable my feelings?

What areas of my life are out of control?

Don’t allow the fear of change to rule your life. Healing is possible!

If you are struggling with hurts, habits or hang-ups and aren’t participating in a 12 Step support group, I encourage you to seek one out. Celebrate Recovery groups are available in most cities.

I hope you enjoy our Road to Recovery Theme song for this year: http://youtu.be/yHIO_1JlBKc

Resources:

Celebrate Recovery Bible
The Twelve Steps for Christians

January 25, 2012June 25, 2016

We started the first week of the year working Step One. Next, I shared a review of my new favorite book. And in week three we started our series Virtues-n-Vices with the topic of Honesty. This week we begin a series of posts called Healing Hurts with the focus today on Denial.

Denial: is a defense mechanism in which a person, faced with an uncomfortable fact, rejects it, insisting that it isn’t true despite overwhelming evidence. It’s an unrealistic hope that a problem is not really happening.

We use one of the following…

Simple denial: denying the reality of the unpleasant reality altogether.
Minimization: admitting the reality but denying it’s seriousness (rationalization).
Projection: admit both the reality and the seriousness but deny any responsibility.

Denial, a type of pain reliever, represses stressful thoughts from the mind; whether subconsciously or consciously, the goal is to avoid dealing with the situation or problem. People expend exhausting amounts of energy maintaining their denial state.

Denial is serious. We can’t heal as long as we pretend our hurts don’t exist.

The Celebrate Recovery Bible lists six negative effects DENIAL has on our lives:

D – isables our feelings
E – nergy drain
N – egates our growth
I – solates us from God
A – lienates us from other human relationships
L – engthens our pain

The bottom line…
The faster we engage (feel) our feelings, even though it hurts, the quicker the pain will end and our life will truly be happier.

God will be with us if we will just let Him into the pain with us.
Press through the pain, step out of denial into the victory of freedom! Trust God, He will take care of you!

Listen to this sweet song as you receive God’s help…