No one likes to face pain. When you have lived through a hurt, your natural instinct is to move on and forget it. But God might have other plans. What is your natural instinct may not be His. He longs to use the pain you have experienced—the things that you regret—the highs and the lows—the fears and the failures—the very things you want to hide from—to help others. He wants your willingness to open your life to those He chooses. They can find freedom from their pain, and you can discover healing for yours.
Being open is a hard place to be. You might want to build a wall to protect yourself from your pain. But building a wall doesn't protect you. It imprisons your mind and heart. It imprisons healing of not only your wounds but those of others. Your wall turns your heart into a heart of stone because, in closing yourself off, you are unable to hear the Holy Spirit.
However, when you allow that wall of false protection to tumble down, the Lord turns your pain into victory not only for yourself 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 without hesitation 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 a 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.
"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 you from any pain or fear. Just be willing.
© 2019 Lynn Lacher
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