Lord, you are my portion
and my cup of blessing;
you hold my future.
The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Psalm 16:5-6 (CSB)
I’m not proud of a lot in my past, but you know what? My past is what makes me who I am because it defines the boundaries of my life. The enemy tries to use my past to derail my future because he’s absolutely terrified I’ll be unstoppable if I get this right. He’ll use yours against you too. The enemy will want you so focused on you and your pain that you can’t begin to be there for someone else. So even though I’m not proud of everything I’ve ever done, I’m incredibly grateful for my life and my inheritance.
Our one job is to possess our land, to own our inheritance, to accept it. Every single, messy inch of it. This means we have to stop hiding from our past. It’s hard to face the past. We all have things we desperately wish weren’t there. But when we surrender our lives to God, He’ll redeem our past for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
I cringe when I recall the life I lived in the decades before I accepted Jesus as my Savior. But I know those days shaped me into the woman I am today. I can easily connect with a woman dealing with infertility because I dealt with it too. It was a hard, hard season in my life, but God got me through, and if I can help even one woman get through it, then the pain and the tears were worth it!
There is nothing on earth you’ve gone through that He doesn’t understand. He knows all about your past and He knows about your future too — the good, the bad, the ugly. Every single bit of your land and life has a purpose. And you can trust Him with all of it.
This excerpt is by Kate Battestelli, published in the (in)courage Devotional Bible and the Summer (in) the Psalms Devotional Journal.
We’re journeying through the book of Psalms this summer, and we hope you will too! Every Thursday, several of our contributors will hold a video conversation about what they’re learning from a selected psalm. These conversations are so good for our souls, and just plain fun! Find the full list of videos here as they go live — the very first one is ready and waiting for you!
If you haven’t started your Summer (in) the Psalms journey yet, it’s definitely not too late! There’s plenty of summer left, and so many wonderful truths waiting in the Psalms. We hope you’ll join us.
Grab your copy of the Summer (in) the Psalms 40-Day Devotional Journal for just $7.99! This beautiful printed journal, only available on Amazon, includes forty days of reading selections from Psalms, twenty full devotions from the (in)courage Devotional Bible, and daily reflection questions with lined pages for journaling your answers. This journal is an all-inclusive, one stop shop for your summer studying!
We can’t wait to spend Summer (in) the Psalms with you.