“From the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48b, NIV).
No one likes to face pain. Reliving that pain is certainly not comfortable. When I have lived through suffering, my natural instinct is to move on and try to forget it. But when God graciously intervenes and brings me through a hard time in my life, my natural instinct is not His. He has entrusted me with His healing grace, and He asks that I give myself away for the sake of others. Sometimes I must relive that hurt or failure or sin or sickness or despair for the sake of someone else so that they also might know healing. God never wastes my hurt or what I have faced in my life. He wants me to use it for His glory.
God longs to use the pain I've experienced—the things that I regret—the
highs and the lows—the fears and the failures—the very things I want to
hide from—to help others experience His grace. He wants my life open so
others might find freedom from their own pain, and I might discover
deeper healing for mine. "Now the Lord is the Spirit,” Paul imparts,
“and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians
3:17). The Holy Spirit will liberate me from any fear, but I must be
willing to be liberated.
Being open is a very hard place to be. I want to build a wall to protect myself from my own vulnerability. But building a wall doesn't protect me. It imprisons my heart. It imprisons my spirit. It imprisons healing of not only my own wounds, but those of others. My wall turns my heart into a heart of stone because, in closing myself off, I have shut out the Holy Spirit. However, when I allow that wall of false protection to tumble down, the Lord turns my pain into victory not only for myself, but for others. “I'll give you a new heart, “the Lord promises, “and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
A heart that yields completely to the Holy Spirit is a heart of tender “spiritual flesh”. It is a heart that is malleable, vulnerable, and not afraid of the pain that often accompanies healing. It is heart that is ready to face the hurt of the past or the present head-on, and allow the Holy Spirit to do whatever is necessary. Willing to deal with whatever must be dealt with, this heart trusts that the Lord who has exposed the pain is capable of healing all that has caused it.
He has entrusted you and I with His grace, and He asks for us to invest that trust for the sake of others. He calls for sacrifice and openness. We need to believe that in our surrender and vulnerability, He is also there. In His freedom, there is healing. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Being open is a very hard place to be. I want to build a wall to protect myself from my own vulnerability. But building a wall doesn't protect me. It imprisons my heart. It imprisons my spirit. It imprisons healing of not only my own wounds, but those of others. My wall turns my heart into a heart of stone because, in closing myself off, I have shut out the Holy Spirit. However, when I allow that wall of false protection to tumble down, the Lord turns my pain into victory not only for myself, but for others. “I'll give you a new heart, “the Lord promises, “and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
A heart that yields completely to the Holy Spirit is a heart of tender “spiritual flesh”. It is a heart that is malleable, vulnerable, and not afraid of the pain that often accompanies healing. It is heart that is ready to face the hurt of the past or the present head-on, and allow the Holy Spirit to do whatever is necessary. Willing to deal with whatever must be dealt with, this heart trusts that the Lord who has exposed the pain is capable of healing all that has caused it.
He has entrusted you and I with His grace, and He asks for us to invest that trust for the sake of others. He calls for sacrifice and openness. We need to believe that in our surrender and vulnerability, He is also there. In His freedom, there is healing. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
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