Past Heartache, Present Empathy Maybe you are struggling with the pain of unfair loss. Maybe the loss came because of someone else’s choices. Maybe you lost your family at the hands of a spouse who walked out. Maybe you lost your career at the hands of a coworker who lied about you. Maybe you lost a community of friends at the hands of someone whose insecurity caused them to gossip about you. Here’s what I’ve learned about trying to survive the pain that comes with unfair loss. My first instinct is to want justice. I want the person to pay for what they did to me. I want them to feel pain over the pain they caused me. I believe this feeling is valid and completely normal, but the problem is that it doesn’t serve me well. It doesn’t help me heal and move on. What I try to do when these feelings flood my mind is intentionally pause and reflect on how much I have needed to be the recipient of grace myself. I may not be ready to forgive, but I can acknowledge that I have made my fair share of mistakes. I also want an apology. I want to hear them say they are sorry. I want them to realize the pain they caused me. I want them to find me and beg for my forgiveness. Do you know what I have found to be true more often than not about forgiveness? I don’t get to hear “I’m sorry” until I am at a point where I don’t need it to be healthy. A reminder that God was still working on that painful situation long after he helped me heal from it. I’ve also learned that forgiving others heals you, not them. Sometimes forgiveness simply means you are giving up the hope of hearing them say they are sorry; you are giving up the hope for a better past and the need for answers or explanations they never gave you. Forgiveness is letting go of what is behind you and choosing to focus instead on the good things you have today. Finally, I have learned that when we choose to transform the sting of past heartache into empathy for today, we find not only tremendous healing but also life-changing purpose and fulfillment.

The Lord is my refuge.

An Invitation As I sat among those who felt they knew me and whom I worked with, I began to tell chapter after chapter of my story. I kept thinking, While I was surviving my childhood, God was building something in me so that I could do much more on this earth than just survive.I’m not alone in this. In the Old Testament of the Bible, while Moses was escaping the consequences of murdering someone, God was simultaneously making a leader. While Jonah was running away in fear, God was making him into a prophet. In the New Testament, while Peter was hanging his head in shame over his disloyalty, Jesus was appointing him a leader of His church. God just does that. While we think we are merely surviving our pain, God is pioneering something new in us. Something useful for this world. Something beautiful. Sometimes the best thing we can do when going through pain is merely go through it and leave the rest with God. Going through pain is harder work than we think. It physically and emotionally exhausts us. It makes simple tasks like getting out of bed or taking a shower feel like a mountain to climb before our day even starts. And the tempting thing about pain is that we don’t have to feel it if we don’t want to. In today’s world, we have so many options to numb ourselves and skirt around it. We can take sleeping pills, drink the drink, scroll the screen, or drown ourselves in activity. We don’t have to go through pain if we choose not to. Many of you may not practice the same faith in Jesus that I do, and I respect that. But I believe that if you keep reading with me, you will see that the message this week will prove to be helpful and healing to you regardless of your faith. I think, together, we will find common ground in the trauma we have endured. We can celebrate the parts of us that we have been able to pick up and how we have moved on despite what we’ve been through. And I believe the parts of us that are still broken will find healing as we process our pain. Heavenly Father, I ask that you speak directly to each person’s heart and life. I pray that rejection starts to feel like acceptance, and regrets turn to freedom. Lord, show each of us that you are a loving Father who is madly in love with each one of us. No exceptions. Amen.

🌿 Day 3 — Pilgrim’s Path Theme: Walking in restoration Scripture: “You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way.” — Psalm 18:36 Reflection Healing does not erase our scars; it transforms them into maps of mercy. The restored soul does not return to what was but walks forward—steadier, softer, wiser. Restoration is not a final arrival but a daily pilgrimage, one step at a time into the wild kingdom of grace. Pilgrim’s Path (from Unfinished Faith, 2026)By Elaine Rumboll Make firm my feet, O Christ, even when the soil softens beneath me, strengthen my ankles where fear would fold them, so each step in this marshland finds your hidden path. Teach me to stand unshaken, as the heron stands at the edge of darkness, watching, not fleeing. Toughen my soles so I might pass unharmed through reeds whispering threats, through sorrow curled quietly in mud beneath ordinary grasses. Lead me far from solid ground, beyond the safety clearly marked, to tracks that yield and shift. Walk me into your wild kingdom, near where the heron, with wings wide, receives dawn’s clarity, beak tilted, generous to what comes. Waiting for a flash of silver, for life rising clear, bright water over stone. Reflection Prompt What new path is God inviting me to walk as one who has been made whole? Closing Prayer Healer of the hidden places, set my feet upon Your path. May I walk with quiet courage and carry Your peace into every place I go.

https://youtu.be/sO-7OZJ17M0?si=CW8_OUt3v1WCy67J