Christian Healing - 2 Desperation

Thoughts on Christian Healing continued:

It may sound obvious, but healing cannot really begin unless the ‘wound’ is brought out into the open and shown to Father - and in the case of emotional healing, the pain is owned and expressed.

Usually if a child hurts itself, he or she goes running to their parents and shows their ‘wound’ to them. The child is comforted, the wound bathed and cleaned and made better. There may even be a discussion on how it happened and how to avoid it happening again.

In this simple straight forward action there is an acceptance that something is wrong, a complete trust in the parent that it will be healed and also a degree of desperation.

We sometimes need to get desperate. Like when I crushed my thumb or when a large rock fell on our son’s hand or when my wife developed a life-threatening condition in a foreign country. In each case, mustering whatever faith I had, I reached out to God with every fibre of my being, until I was assured that I had made connection, He had heard and it was in hand. In each case healing was manifest. I believe God always answers our heart cries.

With long term illness it can seem more compicated. But is it possible that sometimes we have to get desperate before we turn to God and really mean business? For some reason we may have been in denial or thought ‘this is as good as it gets.’ We may have tried all medical avenues, followed any number of special diets, dabbled in various alternative practices, but the illness still persists. Do we have to get desperate before we go all the way on a healing journey God's way, no matter what?

More to come - -

“Give praise to the LORD; he has heard my cry for help. Psalm 28:6 Good News Bible

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Going for Gold - 2

There was a time when some friends thought I was a bit closed up. They didn't always know what I was feeling and found it difficult to make heart contact with the real me. It used to bug some and once someone tried to break through the shell I had built around myself since childhood. That was probably saying more about their own agenda than my need, as it's not something we should attempt, but leave to the Holy Spirit.

The problem was that my 'head' was not fully connected to my 'heart.' There was however a longing within me that was so great that I wasn't sure I wanted to look at it. I was afraid of the emotions that would pour forth. But God loved me too much to leave me that way and heated up my spirit and increased the desire he had put there. He gave me a promise that He would make me, 'hard in the head,' but 'soft in the heart'. Over the years He gradually softened and melted away the shell. With occasional prayerful help from others, the layers of the 'onion' were removed, to reveal the vulnerable inner core.

I am aware that the longings within are the driving forces in my life, so I don't want these to go cold. I wish to live a surrendered lifestyle, but yielding to God is not wholly passive. It does not mean ignoring those very God-given desires. I am at peace with God, but the longing for more is even stronger. I have a desperate desire - a desire that risks all - for certain things to come about, that I believe God wants too.

Hannah - in the Bible - had a longing for a child. She could have said, 'this is as good as it gets,' but she couldn't ignore the deep longing within. I think she believed it was a God-given desire for her and her prayer became desperate. God answered her heart cry, which then helped change the course of history.

What is on your heart?

"Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard." 1Samuel 1:13 New International Version

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Pioneering Unknown Territory

Like many boys, I loved to explore and read adventure stories, but in my early teens I decided to have my own adventure. One day in the depths of winter, I packed a small rucksack with map, compass and food and set out on my own to explore the wild Kinder Scout plateau in our High Peak National Park.

Excitement mounted as I wound my way up the Grindsbrook valley and searched for a route up the sheer craggy escarpment. Once on the top I carefully picked my way over the featureless wilderness with just a frisson of fear and marvelled at the strange beauty of the place. All too soon I had to turn back, but felt elated on the descent, having achieved my goal.

Today, you'll find a well-worn eroded path there, where many thousands have trod since. My pioneering spirit remains, but for years it was half buried and covered over and jaded by life's events. It was only after I became a Christian that I eventually realised that the deep longing and desire was for intimacy with God Himself. He had put it there!

I have found that if we refuse to be squeezed into some respectable Christian mould, but seek to follow the desire God has put within us and find out who we really are and what we are made for, we could be in for a bumpy ride. At times it may feel like we are in unknown territory, going where no one has been before and have to deal with loneliness and the misunderstandings of others. As for God, He has already mapped out our journey, but we may think He has made a mistake when things don't go according to our plan and the going gets tough.

Instead we may opt for a seemingly safe way of subduing the desire, such as church activity or position, voluntary work, a project or hobby or anything that may gratify. These may be good things in themselves, but in reality they are only a mere shadow of the real thing. The desire will still be there deep down and we will be restless and not true to our own heart or God's.

We have been given freedom of choice, but if we want to be pioneers and 'go for gold' why not ask God to heat up our spirit and increase the desire, for it is that which keeps us going.

All God waits for is our Yes!

"Jesus said ..... You--follow me." John 21:22 The Message Bible

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