"Been Through" vs "Experienced"

Is it something you've been through or something you experienced?

Everyone has a story to tell. Some people are not as forthcoming as others with their story but we all have several life lessons of hurts, triumphs, joys and comical accounts that have happened to us. Some situations are more difficult than others and are often referred to as storms. I will use this term for my example.

The storm that comes to mind is a tornado. Tornadoes cause massive amounts of destruction. Buildings are severely damaged, if not completely destroyed, cars are flipped over, possible flooding occurs and oftentimes people lose their lives. Storms cause things to be in disarray. It's what you do after and maybe even during the storm that determines if it's an experience or what you’ve been through.

You have “been through”, if after the storm, you began cleaning up the mess and seek Help with the things that are too heavy for you to handle on your own. The pain and other negative emotions are given to the Restorer and you receive peace, joy and healing. The damaged parts of you are reconstructed. Newness comes about. All of that old debris is hauled off so life after the storm can begin NEW and FREE of the junk. The old is dead and gone. The ultimate cleaning crew has come through your town and city sparkles in GOODNESS. When you've been through something, it literally means you've been through (though not grammatically correct) with the situation – been through with the anger, hurt, and all negativity associated with it. When you’ve been through a situation, it doesn’t mean you‘ve forgotten what happened but instead you have moved on. You’ve gone through, to the other side of the situation, strengthen and wiser.

“Experiencing” a storm has a different outcome. After the storm is gone, the debris is still there. The storm is over but emotionally, you’re still in it. You cannot get past the fact that the storm happened. You still have the trash of what happened. It may appear to be too much mess to deal with so you do not know where to begin. The mess just sits there. Eventually, it is pushed to the side or piled up in an area out of sight so other things can come in. But it was never dealt with. Growing weeds and possible now with a smell; festering. Small things remind you of what happened and trigger ugly memories. You can no longer pretend to not notice it so you become upset that its still there. That no one removed it. That no one helped. You are resentful that you have this mess, thinking you have to do it all by yourself. SPOILER ALERT: YOU DON’T HAVE TO CLEAN THE MESS ALONE.

It all comes down to your faith. Do you TRULY believe you can be healed? Do you want to let the mess go and move on? Can you clean up the ‘town’ and build an even better one with an even stronger history. Allow God to help you. He knows us like no one else. It is not okay what happened to you and HE knows. It is also not okay to continue to hold on to it. It is unhealthy and distracting you from greater. God loves us. We cannot comprehend the depths of God’s love with our human minds but it is very real and waiting to be received. We are told in His word to put our cares on Him for He cares for us. All who are weary and heavy laden should go to JESUS and He WILL give you rest. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. It may seem too much to believe right now but ask God to help your unbelief and reach for HIM! The AUTHOR and FINISHER of our faith. The GREAT I AM. THERE IS NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR GOD. NOTHING. And there’s great news for those currently in a storm. Make your way to the EYE of the storm. There is calmness and peace in the EYE. This EYE is watchful and keeps us in perfect peace if we abide HIM.

There are reports of individuals who were caught in the eye of a tornado. They report the calmness of the eye and how bright it was in the eye. The brightness allowed them to see all of what was going on and being swept up around them. But nothing, by any means harmed them :)

A couple story of the individuals in the eye of a tornado: http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/eye-of-tornado1.htm