Tucked into Alex Seeley’s summer book debut, “Tailormade,” there is a sweet little chapter with this title.
The focus is on generational patterns and how they subtlety creep into our lives, even when we promise ourselves that we will or won’t “handle” life like those that went before us. It’s interesting that this behavior is exactly how the patterns continue. We must get to a place where we actually work through whatever caused us to proclaim that anyway, and where we can identify why we felt how we did. In a more simple statement: We need freedom so that we can actually stop the pattern.
I love the simplicity of the Psalms, and this one in particular: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (147:3) (His promises on this topic are covered in quite a few other verses, so if you like to look up references, check out Isaiah 61:1 and 61:3.)
The verse is a little strong, so please recognize that not all generational patterns create a broken heart but to me, the idea that he “heals” us at all levels is comforting. I have found that both God’s word and being in a strong community of close friends with faith are essential to working through issues. I would also say a good counselor can be a game changer. When we are forced to ask the right questions we can all of a sudden seem to understand more. That clarity, mixed with taking action to recognize and deal with the answers brings us to freedom and the ability to actually stop the pattern.
Without a good plan, history will indeed repeat itself.
This week, let’s repeat the good, the healthy and the flat out awesome. If we have anything we need to better understand about ourselves, let’s look at our generational history and claim the outcome we desire. (For me, it seems like there will always be something I want to work on to be the best version of myself. Truly, it’s one of the favorite parts of life… the sheer ability as a human to get better and stronger and help others in the process is as good as it gets.)