June 21, 2024 Devo

Yesterday, I wrote about how when Jesus went to Samaria He was doing some new work in an old place. As I camped on that thought, it occurred to me that God does that with us as well. Along the way on our journey of faith, there are things that come up that God challenges us to face, change, deal with, or repent of. With some of those things, we do. We confront whatever needs to be confronted, learn the needed lesson, grow, and move on. They are nice wins on the way to maturity.
But sometimes there are things that we don’t deal with. Sometimes we’re too afraid to deal with them. Other times we’re just defiant and disobedient and choose not to. Still other times we convince ourselves we have dealt with it when we really haven’t. And once in a while we find God taking us back to that “unfinished business.”
For some of us, it’s a wound that we haven’t taken time to let God heal. Childhood trauma or abuse that we’ve tried to bury and hide. But it’s still there, bleeding into our daily lives in sometimes not-so-subtle and painful ways. For some of us, it is a relationship that ended badly. We said things we shouldn’t have said or just left someone hanging. We know we should confess and make amends, but we’re afraid. For some of us, it is an attitude that we’ve made room for, or a habit that we excuse, or even an addiction that we’re living with. We think because it’s not causing huge problems for us, that it is acceptable. But we know in our hearts it’s not honoring to God because He nudges us about it from time to time.
Unfinished business can be like a pebble in our shoe that doesn’t stop us from walking, but it’s a painful reminder that there’s something there that needs attention. It’s our Samaria. It’s the place in our lives that God keeps bringing us back to because He wants ALL of us to be healthy, mature, healed, and a reflection of who He is. If this fits for you, I would encourage you to stop for a while today, and just talk openly with God about what you need to do about that “spiritual pebble.” That area of your life that you’re trying so hard to avoid may be what’s keeping you from walking in the fullness of freedom that God wants you to have. Let’s come to God today with our unfinished business. That’s God’s Word for you today.