How to Process Your Pain? | Emotional Healing Sermon Series | John Giftah

0:01 Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, wow, the world is a crazy place, and it just seems to get crazier and crazier? Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living and Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, bestselling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist and founder of John Gifta International.

0:41 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta.

0:46 Speaker 2: Hello everyone, welcome to this edition of the Fuel for the Soul with John Gifter podcast. All through this week, we're looking at various aspects with regard to dealing with the pain that you're dealing with in terms of maybe somebody hurt you or there is something that is causing a lot of havoc in your life and you're just trying to come to terms with it. And I want to talk about something in line with what I shared in 1 Samuel 16, verse 1. When Samuel, the prophet, is grieving and the Lord speaks to him and asks him this question, Samuel.

1:16 Speaker 3: How long will you grieve? How long will you mourn over Saul?

1:22 Speaker 2: Yesterday, I spoke about an important aspect about how it is important that you grieve because without processing the pain, without grieving, you will not be able to move ahead. So it is important that you take time to grieve. Only then you will be able to move forward. But today I want to ask you this question. How long are you going to grieve? How long are you going to mourn? Because the other day I spoke to someone who was talking about so much of pain that they were enduring. Maybe they went through something that was unfair in their family life and all of these things.

1:54 Speaker 2: And I thought maybe this person has so much of pain. There's so much going on and they're really worried and they're anxious. Maybe this is something that just happened recently. And when I spoke to them, I came to know that that was something that happened almost 17 years ago.

2:09 Speaker 3: See, here's the thing I wanted to understand.

2:11 Speaker 2: It's okay to take time to grieve, but you cannot keep grieving the rest of your life. There's a time when you need to say, enough is enough. I'm not going to keep going ahead with life just grieving about what happened, how unfair it was, how they mistreated you. No, you have to come to your senses and say, enough is enough. Like God was asking... Samuel, how long are you going to mourn? The Lord is reminding me to ask you this question. How long are you going to mourn? How long are you going to grieve?

2:41 Speaker 2: How long are you going to weep? Because there is a moment where you say, you know what? I'm grieved, but this is a time for me to take action. This is a time for me to come to terms with it and say, let's say what God wants to do next in my life. See, I remember a moment where there was a season when there were a few people who did a lot of wrong to me. It hurt me so much and it was involving the ministry. I'd already paid a huge price in the ministry. I think I've shared this many times with y'all how it's not easy for me to do what I do.

3:15 Speaker 3: I paid a huge price. I had opposition.

3:18 Speaker 2: I've had a lot of abusive voices spoken over me, a lot of rejections.

3:22 Speaker 3: It's not easy.

3:23 Speaker 2: What I'm doing, what I've done for the last almost 14 years, we're going to finish 14 years this week. I want to tell you something. It's not because it was easy. I've gone through so much. And on top of that, when people use you and throw you, when people speak a hill of you, when people have ulterior motives to just use the platform.

3:44 Speaker 3: For their own benefit, it used to hurt.

3:47 Speaker 2: And when that happened, there was a time when a lot of things just came against me.

3:51 Speaker 3: There was a group that.

3:53 Speaker 2: you know, was for me and suddenly turned against me, it hurt me so much because I had put my heart and soul into this. I'd invested in them. I had good intentions towards them. But the problem was they just used me and then they just upscaled themselves. See, there was a time I had to go through the process of grieving. Maybe for a year or two, almost three years, I was grieving that pain because it was not just that pain, but what they did left so much of scar in me that God had to heal me. God had to heal my wounds.

4:27 Speaker 2: God had to heal my heart. God had to keep me secure in who he made me to be. And eventually what happened was, It came to a place where I looked at it and said, God, you know what? With all my heart, I forgive them. I want to see the best for them. I pray for them. I want to say that, God, you would use them mightily for the extension of your kingdom. But help me to move on. But what happened was year and year passed by. But these triggers kept on haunting me. And till the moment I realized, man...

5:00 Speaker 2: After eight years, I would still be taunted by them. I would still be affected by one comment. I would still be affected by something that would just creep out their name in front of me.

5:12 Speaker 3: And I realized, God, after eight years, if this is still triggering.

5:16 Speaker 2: Me, I want you to do something about it. And that's when I realized how the Lord was saying, see, there is a place to grieve, but there's a place to process the pain and release it out. You know, imagine somebody or if you ate something that affected you and you have that vomiting sensation, right? Imagine I tell you, you know what? I want you to keep eating. I want you to keep drinking. What's going to happen? It's all going to be here. It's nothing is going to go in. In fact, later when you actually form it, everything is going to come up.

5:48 Speaker 3: You know what I mean?

5:49 Speaker 2: So there comes a point where you need to release it before you take in something new. Take in the new thing that God wants to do. Sometimes you need to, yes, process the pain, grieve the pain, and you need to express the pain before you can move on to the next thing that God wants to do. Maybe this is a reminder for you. Yes, you're crying. You've cried enough. But you don't have to cry the rest of your life. Maybe there's a time you say, God, I want to process this pain. So when I was praying about this, the Lord gave me an idea because I'm into the creative space.

6:22 Speaker 2: I write stories. You guys know, of course, apart from my main book, I've also written a storybook with life lessons. So I always write stories. I have a very good imagination. So what I did was all the pain that I had, I converted and expressed in the form of a story.

6:40 Speaker 3: And released it out. And can I tell you something?

6:43 Speaker 2: What eight years of fasting and prayer did not help me, this one and a half days of expressing my pain in the form of a story actually kept me in such a better place, emotionally as well as mentally. Maybe this is a reminder to you. Maybe you don't have to write a story like I did. Maybe you're good in expressing through pain by just talking to somebody. Or maybe you're good in expressing the pain through music. Maybe you're good in expressing the pain through writing poems. Maybe you're good in expressing the pain through starting a new venture.

7:19 Speaker 2: But whatever it is, I challenge you, the way you vomit out the negative before you take in the better food next time, I challenge you to warm it out or express the pain that you have gone through. So only then, once you release it out, you will be in the free mode and a better place emotionally and mentally.

7:43 Speaker 3: For you to receive the new thing that God wants to do.

7:46 Speaker 2: Because only after that, God gives Samuel the instruction on what he needs to do next. Only when you are done with this, God will give you the next instruction, which we'll talk about in the next episode.

7:58 Speaker 3: But I challenge you today to take this step to say.

8:01 Speaker 2: Are there things you're worried about or you're grieving about from many, many days, weeks, months, years, or even decades ago?

8:11 Speaker 3: I want to close with this.

8:12 Speaker 2: When someone said this, that, you know, I'm like this and I will be like this because of my rough childhood. And they're already in their almost 70s or something. See, I know your childhood was unfair. But why do you want to spoil the rest of your life because of something that you can't change from, you know, almost 50 years ago? So I challenge you today.

8:37 Speaker 3: It's fine. Whatever happened, happened.

8:39 Speaker 2: But it's time for you to process it with the help of the Holy Spirit, with a creative, expressive way. And you will come out victorious and ready for God to give you the new instruction over your life. If you're watching this on YouTube, I challenge you to leave a comment. And if you're watching or listening on any of the podcast platforms, I challenge you to share this with someone.

9:01 Speaker 3: And I will see you back next time. God bless you.

9:04 Speaker 1: You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We hope you were blessed and inspired to live the life that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe to the John Gifta YouTube channel for regular uploads of sermons, skits, interviews, and more. Follow John Gifta on Instagram for regular inspirational posts. And don't forget to check out the bestselling books written by John Gifta, Who Am I?, which will help you understand your identity. And the latest number one bestseller, Unveil Your Purpose, helping you discover your purpose and to start walking in it.

9:38 Speaker 1: Make sure to leave a rating and review and be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones. If you'd like to donate, you can find the PayPal link in the description. And if you'd like to invite John Gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www.johngifta.com. See you on the next episode of The Fuel for the Soul. Soul with John Gifta. God bless you.