I listened the other day as a friend was in a deep
depression over an incident in her life.
She was full of self hatred.
She was full of self
doubt
She was full of
moping and groaning.
Honestly she was very full… but not yet of Christ.
But HE was working. He has brought her to a place where the
misstep she has just made was dredging up from the bottom of her life memories of
when she had been the victim.
When she had been hurt and reviled, and now she
was re-living it, even though she was a grown woman, far from the hurts of
childhood.
As she spoke to me I could tell that this part of her childhood was something she
had never spoke of. She had never mentioned it to me or even her spouse.
And because of that, the
enemy had kept her captive to it for a lifetime. She had been it’s silent
prisoner. And now her savior was setting her free.
But the trouble with being
set free from such an old bond is that flesh and bone have begun to grow around
those chains. And it hurts to have them removed. It tears at flesh, and it
breaks through bone, and the infection must then be washed and healed.
It hurts
enough that we scarcely see how it’s helping. We beg for the chains to be left
alone, and we cry something horrible.
Oh what a patient father he is! If it were me and my child I
would consider keeping the chains there so as to not cause them any further pain… but
our Lord knows better.
He knows that the pain we feel now is but a small pinch
compared to the pain of having our bondage remain.
He loves us too much to be
satisfied with us as we are… he is not yet satisfied until we are free, and
healed, and dance in joy and shout our praises I AM FREE!!
So my dear friend who is in pain right now, if you read this know that I am
praying for you… but I will not pray that it is taken away.
I will pray that
you will know and feel HIS grace, and HIS love, and HIS mercy through it all… and that you will yield to him, and allow him to remove it – though it is
painful. Because the freedom you will know on the other side is worth it… it is
WORTH IT!
