Flashbacks from a former Life

[Joseph]

Years ago before I met The Lord, I was involved with a Gang on The streets of Toronto. Ontario. There was alot of Violence and it wasnt un-common for some of our Gang members to wind up in Prison for Murder. It was a a few years later that I found myself in a Pychiatric Facility, where I underwent shock-therapy and other psycho Drama sessions for the reasons of somehow discovering the deep problems that I had. I then was a Man of No conscience.
and it wasnt until about 12 years after that, that The Father of all Creation touched me and set my feet upon a path of Holiness. Today many years Later, Thanks to His Faithfulness in my life, My success surrounds my Wife and Kids. And My Jesus. But lately I`ve been suffering Huge flashbacks from the Past. I cant get some images out of my thinking. Does anyone else out there go through these ordeals? and how do you get free of them??

[centerpointeworshipper]

The past is the past, but when we are forgiven for those sins, we dont forget about them.

There are times when I get flashbacks of the horrid things i used to do and still get the same feelings like i was right there again, but honestly we are designed to have memory but not all our memories are good.

I tried to blame it on the enemy but these flashbacks dont make me want to go do those things again, it makes me want to keep living for Jesus and thank Him that He pulled me out of all that, so the enemy is fighting a losing battle with me. PTL!!

So what the enemy intends for evil, let the Lord use it for His good and remember where He brought you from! :D

[stephen_can_man]

I too have struggled with flashbacks from my past! The brain is a crazy thing, and I think that there are reasons why the past can sometimes haunt us. The best example I heard the other day was about how wounds that we incure from life leave us scarred. Although the wounds heal, the scar still remains.

In highschool I was a bit stupid at times and while in the wood shop one day I wasn't paying attention and cut the tips off of two fingers. It tore the flesh off to the bone and it hurt like crazy. When the doctor put in the stitches he told me that even after it was healed it can hurt many years later because of nerve damage. He also said that sometimes people can get "phantom" pains 10-20 years later! Kind of like when someone gets their arm cut off and they go to scratch only to realize it isn't there...

My point is, our scars and struggles may heal over time but we can still feel the pain (and pleasure) of past experiences even long after they have occured. The real question we must ask ourselves is, when we are faced with our scars of our past what do we do? Do we give into temptation again? Obviously not, been there and done that. Do we wallow in shame and depression? Well that just makes you useless and no fun to be around. Or do we allow our scars to remind us of God's immeasurable grace that has saved us from ourselves?

The scars of our past can be humble reminders of just how much we trully need Christ to save us, not just one day, but every day! The hurt, the pain, the temptations, all of these things are the beauty and terror of the human condition that Christ has saved us from. When your past comes to haunt you, don't dwell on your weakness, rejoice in God's strength! Our weakness is another reminder of the greatness of Christ and His redemption!!!

[amprodirect]

Joseph, you have had some great responses thus far and I would echo those. One thing I have learned over the years is that for many people, once you have been fully restored and recovered and these thoughts and memories come back to you, you might now be in a place that God would really like for you to be an ambassador of His love, forgiveness and grace to others that have similar struggles. Honestly, I believe helping others is also part of our own healing. All I am suggesting is ask God, "what should I learn from this?". I rejoice with you where you are today and where you have come from. I am reminded of John 15:5, I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vice, and a channel of HIS LIFE.

[amprodirect]

Joseph, you have had some great responses thus far and I would echo those. One thing I have learned over the years is that for many people, once you have been fully restored and recovered and these thoughts and memories come back to you, you might now be in a place that God would really like for you to be an ambassador of His love, forgiveness and grace to others that have similar struggles. Honestly, I believe helping others is also part of our own healing. All I am suggesting is ask God, "what should I learn from this?". I rejoice with you where you are today and where you have come from. I am reminded of John 15:5, I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true VINE, and a channel of HIS LIFE.

Ugh! Not a good spelling error. My apologies.