Dear Friends, The word resonating in the depths of my soul is the brokenness and severely wounded hearts of hurting people. Sorrow is defined as: Mental suffering caused by Loss, Disappointments, Sadness, Grief and Regret. It’s the inward parts which produce those feelings of Hopelessness. Yet, many people seem to have it all together outwardly, but inside they are emotional wrecks. Their pasts have broken, crushed and wounded them inwardly. Psalm 147:3 "He heals the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." When you go looking for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will. We all have faults some are quiet while others are loud and it’s those people who have loud faults who really can’t help themselves. It will literally take the wonderful miracle working power of God because no matter how hard you try, you keep getting tripped up and entangled into sin and making wrong decisions. Yet, Jesus tells us to look for the best in people and to show love as he knew the human nature of all mankind. It’s the Love of God that will swallow up hate, lies and darkness. Hurting people hurt other people because of their own insecurities. In order to be healed, we must be brutally honest within ourselves and get down to the core and root of the problem. Many times we hide our wounds but God in his goodness brings situations inside our lives so we can deal with those issues so we can be made whole. The shame isn’t having a problem. It’s knowing you have it and choosing to do nothing about it! The question God is asking, "Do you want to be made well?" After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. We all experience emotional pain, but few of us truly know how to deal with it properly. Instead we allow it to poison our relationships and cripple our thought lives. Some wounds are so deep, they impact how we live and who we have become. We make unhealthy inner vows as young adults. A boy who grows up wounded by a critical and controlling mother may promise to never again allow himself to be dominated by a woman. So, he learns to hide his feelings from others. When he marries, he becomes closed off and distant from his wife. He guards his heart and refuses to talk about things that bother him. As a result, their marriage becomes cold and meaningless. A young girl who grows up in an emotionally abusive family may make inner vows to never again let herself be hurt by another person. She promises herself that she will never allow anyone to yell at her or put her down. And in order to fulfill her vow, she herself starts lashing out at the first sign of trouble, taking control of every situation in order to maintain the upper hand. Yet, no matter who it is a man or a woman they became the very person they swore to themselves that they would never become. Unhealthy inner vows are not only a powerful force in life, but they can easily become a crippling obsession. They can guide us in ways that make it nearly impossible to develop and maintain a truly healthy lifestyle and they control us in ways that only God should be allowed to do. So, we’re walking around wounded, living with wounds that have not yet been healed and we are not living at our full God given potential. God desires for us to be healthy, healed, whole, nothing missing and nothing broken. God is a redeemer of time as he has the power to add years to your life. Start declaring a word of justice over your life. The courts of heaven reside in the North. If you’re breathing, and you have a pulse, God has a good plan for your life! So, come out of that place of guilt and embrace everything Jesus died to give you. It’s not the end, and it’s certainly not over. Things in your life have been delayed but not denied as we serve a mighty and powerful God. Let’s learn to forgive ourselves and embrace God’s unconditional love for he knows the thoughts that he thinks towards us, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Proverbs 20:27 "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly." The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord. Meaning, God illuminates us through our spirit. But, if my spirit is dejected and broken it’s going to be hard to hear from God.
Proverbs 13:12 "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." Hope deferred can crush your spirit! If you do not guard yourself, disappointments and delayed desires can cause your spirit to become low and broken. It may have to do with work, maybe you thought you would be far beyond where you are today when it comes to the job market and your career, but you have not received that promotion, and you do not have the salary you thought you should have gotten by now. You’ve allowed it to affect you, and become dejected inside pulling down your spirit. It may have to do with marriage. Perhaps you thought surely by now, your husband would be sitting next to you in church. Yet, the rascal still doesn’t come to service. Perhaps you thought there would be a change by now in your wife, and it has not happened. Possibly, the deferred hope has to do with you still being single and thought you would have been married long ago. It can have to do with any arena in life. If you are not careful, that can cause you to become bitter and wounded on the inside. You might find yourself in such a state today! Disappointed inwardly, due to things languishing off into the horizon that have not yet materialized. We cannot dictate our lives to God and when we become crushed through life's disruptive moments it’s His perfect opportunity to reappoint our lives in a better direction. God has the power to take nothing and make something beautiful out of your life as only he can. King David said, I poured out my complaint before God. If you are angry at God, you may as well tell him. He knows it anyway! When you pour out your complaint to God, you’re looking for answers. You need to stay in God’s presence until you get an answer and then put that answer in your mouth. Literally, our words are like seeds that we sow. They are containers. Even the Bible is called, the incorruptible seed of the word of God. When God’s word comes forth, it comes in seed form. Jesus said, The sower sows the word. He likened preaching to sharing the gospel just as a sower sows seeds as it falls on the soil of a human heart.
Proverbs 15:13 "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." Deep sorrow can be because of a severed relationship, betrayal of a friend, or loss of a loved one. Things like these can break down a person’s spirit! Once King Saul decided he wasn’t going to serve God anymore and he turned away from the Lord. God said to Samuel, how long will you mourn for Saul? Fill your horn with oil and go! In other words, the time for mourning has passed. You need to get on with your life. There is a new anointing, mantel, identity and higher realms for you to accomplish. A broken spirit can even come through sorrow over personal failures. When you realize you have played the fool it can be devastating inwardly. How about that illness that caught you off guard and shattered the very existence of life. God is more than able to mend your broken heart. You’ll never forget the experience but he can offer you beauty for those ashes and give you double for your former trouble. Yes, we have all endured some hurtful trials and heartaches. We have all been through some pretty deep waters and I suspect there will be more as we grow from experience to experience. In each season we are faced with much wisdom and enlightenment. Dear friends, we cannot change the past but we have the ability to choose to be better than what was presented to us. Life will pass you by, if you are not willing to bend and embrace change as a necessary pathway of life. Its sole purpose is to teach life long lessons from generation to generation. In His Grip, Pastor Wendy Schenkel
Comentários