New Branches
Author:
January 09, 2019
“The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the
full.” – John 10:10, NIV
Nancy came from an alcoholic
home. She described her parents as “good people…when they weren’t
drinking”. So when Nancy was older, she
left her home and she thought she’d left the chaos behind.
She had two little girls of
her own then she miscarried. She worried God was punishing her and she felt
guilty. She started drinking. She rationalized it as one beer before bed to
help her sleep. But pretty soon, Nancy was getting drunk regularly.
She didn’t realize she had a
problem until one of her daughters developed a fever in the middle of the
night. Nancy knew she was too impaired to drive so she called her husband who
was away on a men’s retreat.
He came home immediately and
together, they took their daughter to the local hospital. While they were
there, an older nurse reached out to Nancy. She recognized that she needed help
and shared her own story of living in an alcoholic home.
Nancy sobbed through the
story. “I think this is my legacy. It’s the one my parents gave me and it’s the
one I’ll give to my girls. A twisted, ugly family tree.”
The nurse rubbed Nancy’s back
and said, “Jesus is in the business of grafting new branches into twisted
trees. You don’t have to carry this on your own anymore.”
Whatever darkness plagues your
family, you’re not destined to repeat it. You don’t have to live the same life
your mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, or grandfather lived. You
can be set free and your family tree can be transformed.
God, there’s been so much darkness and sin in my family. I
don’t want my family tree to continue this way. Set us free. Make us righteous.
Start a new branch right in this very moment. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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