Freely Speaking Audio Devotion

Welcome to Freely Speaking, an OHSOFREE devotional ministry where we share our hearts and trust God for transformation. 

Today, Darla Czeropski shares her testimony of processing her past with thankfulness.

Our scripture is from Mark 12:30 (NIV): “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” 

If you map your life from the day you were born till now and mark each significant event, you will see the faithful love of the Lord. 

In Psalm 107, David thanks God for always being available in diverse situations. He points out God’s faithfulness each time the people of Israel cried out to God. He maps out their journey, highlighting how God delivered them from all their troubles. He challenges them to “take to heart” or, in the Greek translation, “let him observe” or “to find understanding.”

I have loved God all my life, but I didn’t always love Him well. 

I was raised in church and loved God with a child-like faith because I had a child-like heart. As a teen, my heart feared God, not understanding why hurtful things happened to myself and God’s people. As a young adult, my heart became frustrated and anxious; I thought God wasn’t answering my desperate prayers. 

In all seasons, I clinched the wheel, thinking I could control or minimize pain for myself and others. I made terrible choices. Shame was planted deep. Truthfully, the older I became, God wasn’t Lord of my life. He was only a religion passed down from my parents that had not yet bloomed personally in my heart.

When I reached the end of myself, I finally dumped my confession of sin at Jesus' feet and made a vow not to breathe unless I talked to Him. At first, my relationship with the Lord seemed one-sided. I couldn’t grasp His love because shame was all my heart could feel. But then, I learned to look back—not to sit in my shame but to discover God’s faithful love within my chaos. 

Like the Psalmist, I, too, learned the importance of reflecting on my past with a heart of thankfulness. In my intimate moments with Jesus, He offered wisdom to process my pain and a new outlook to see His faithfulness in all situations. Jesus delivered me from shame, and I can truly say, “I love the Lord with all my heart!”

David ends the chapter with a Reflection Statement: “Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord” (Psalms 107:43, NLT).

Today, I challenge you to pause and consider each season of difficulty you may have experienced. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and reveal where HE was present. Be thankful and allow any shame to be replaced by the healing love of our Lord.

Thank you for joining us today. If you would like to learn more about OhSoFree Ministries, please visit us at www.ohsofreeministries.com/