Philippines: The Path for Spiritual Healing Part 3 – Connect the “Know” to the “Drive!”

When eagles build their nest: First they place thorns, jagged rocks and other sharp objects. Then they cushion that with a thick layer of feathers, fur and wool. It is very comfortable for her chicks. After a while, when her chicks have grown, she knows they will be happy to just sit around all day letting “mama” do all the flying and feeding. This is not healthy for her chicks, so she uses her strong talons to stir up the nest. Bringing to the surface all the glass, rocks and other sharp objects, thus making the chicks miserable, which in turn makes them leave the nest, learning to fly and hunt on their own.

God never wants you to fall, but He does want you to move!

Deut. 32:9-12 "For the LORD'S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. "He found him in a desert land, And in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye. "Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. "The LORD alone guided him, And there was no foreign god with him.

Whenever we are dealing with grief, it is always a new path. Each circumstance is individual and different from any other grief we have been through. That makes it potentially either a very dangerous time, or an opportunity for growth like no other. As we finish our look at the process of going through grief let me review:

·      A. Live what you know – this is how you get past the initial shock of the emotions. How do we do that?

§  1. Refuse to move to emotionalism; i.e. living based on what you feel, instead of based what you know.

§  2. Mental understanding of life – it includes difficult times.

Do not allow your mind to believe in living in “the Bubble”! No one escapes life! In this fallen world everyone will experience difficult and heart breaking times.

·      B. Meditate on Who God is.  This is where you deal with trust. Who is God? Can you trust Him? What has He done to redeem you?

§  1. Focus on the bridge of hope. This is the bridge from the brain to the heart.

§  2. Focus on the fact that you are not alone.

The last point is when we take all the knowledge we have, and the invested time we spent pondering Who our God is, and now put that into action. With the mind we “know”, however knowledge without direction is not worth much. The drive of our life is the heart. The passion and zeal that fuels our actions; that is why it is so important to make sure what you know first, because once the heart gets in the driver’s seat, it becomes very hard to stop or change direction. The heart will be controlled either by what we “know” or what we “feel”. So called “blind love” is exactly that…based on emotions, it is blind to the realities that are in front of it. This is why we know folks that pursued a partner, that everyone knew was terrible for them, yet in spite of the evidence in front of them, i.e. violent nature, flirtatious nature, terrible with money, substance dependant, different god, etc. they insisted on the relationship and now have deep regret. Real love begins with what we know and that guides the emotions our heart expresses. Here is our third step in this path:

C. Connect the Heart and the Brain

·      1. Realize the reality of eternity: Be quiet and allow God to let you sense what is true inside. Whatever the circumstance in this world, it is only temporary. The first funeral I did was my mother; she went to be with the Lord at 49, I was 20. Though grief stricken, it was not overwhelming because I knew she was safe and I would see her again!  

Job 19:25-27 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;  I myself will see him  with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

1 Thess. 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.

·      2. Realize God’s plan for growth – God stirring the nest.

Job 23:10-12 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

 Romans 5:3–5 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

·      3. Be still long enough to see God

Job 42:1–6 Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

Job cried out, he thought he knew God, but he had only heard of Him. Now, after spending time and listening to God, God revealed Himself. When Job experienced Who God is, seeing himself in that light brought him to the reality of who he is and Who God is. In that light, not only was he filled with repentance, but also consider how he now understands Who is working in his life! As Job stated:

“I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.”

We know from Scripture that God honored Job and restored all to him. Would I want this lesson – NO! Would I desire Job’s fruit – YES Sorry, they come together…every victory begins with a battle! There is no maturity pill, that comes from God working in our life and all that encompasses, good and bad!

Meditation questions: How are you handling grief in your life? Do you see that not only do your emotions need to process the circumstance, so does your spirit? During a difficult time that causes grief what do you see? Who do you see? Do you view it only as a chance to fall, or also a chance to grow? The last time you went through grief, what did you learn and experience from God?

Philippines: The Path for Spiritual Healing Part 2 – Who is God?

An English publication had a contest for the best definition of a friend.  Some of the ones that won honorable mention were these:  `A friend is somebody who multiplies your joys and divides your griefs’; `A friend is someone who understands your silence.’ But let me give you the one that won the prize.  `A real friend is someone who comes in when the whole world has gone out.’”

All of us deal with grief in our own way, yet there are certain principles that seem to be universal. As I think of my friends and all the folks in the Philippines, I continue to hear of tragedy, incredible courage, terrible greed and uncompromising generosity and selflessness. It is my prayer that all my brothers and sisters in the Lord will allow God to take them through the healing process so the enemy can get no foothold. His goal is to produce doubt in our trust of God. How can we help those that have no relationship with God work through this horrific incident and come out on the other side with a new understanding of Who God is, and hopefully a new birth, if we ourselves are unsure of His faithfulness, constant love and desire to see us live our life to the fullest.

We have already seen that the beginning of the process is to:

·      A. Live what you know – this is how you get past the initial shock of the emotions. How do we do that?

§  1. Refuse to move to emotionalism; i.e. living based on what you feel, instead of based what you know.

§  2. Mental understanding of life – it includes difficult times.

Do not allow your mind to believe in living in “the Bubble”! No one escapes life! In this fallen world everyone will experience difficult and heart breaking times.

The next step is one that requires us to slow down. In a state of grief the enemy wants us to be impulsive…nothing can be more dangerous.

B. Meditate on Who God is.  This is where you deal with trust. Who is God? Can you trust Him? What has He done to redeem you?

·      1. Focus on the bridge of hope. This is the bridge from the brain to the heart.

We must take what we know about God and begin to bridge that knowledge to our heart. This produces hope. Hope is when we have a clear expatiation of seeing a good result in our life, no matter the circumstances. This is expressed often in the Scriptures.

Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;

       

1 Thess. 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.

Romans 8:24-25 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

This is a difficult step because as humans we all prefer to walk by sight…I know I do! Yet, if we slow down enough in our thought life and take what we know about our God, a belief (faith) will begin to manifest itself in our soul that God is in control and does have a plan. The logic of Who God is screams out against all the arguments to not trust Him.

The Hope of eternity outweighs the discomfort of the present. Grieve we must and should, however, even in the worse case scenario – death - the reality that death has lost due to the resurrection of Christ comforts us because we can know we will see our loved one again.

Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus, even though He knew He was going to raise him!  The separation hurts, if we love someone it must! Still, the reality is in the fact that our grief is only temporary and the final victory is in Christ, which should comfort the inner area of the heart.

·      2. Focus on the fact that you are not alone.

Job 16:19-21 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend.

This is the foundation of all the strength of all of God’s children since the garden! God has never abandoned anyone that desired to be close to Him. So many have abandoned Him, even replaced Him with images, vain fantasies and convoluted theories. Yet, He has remained faithful to His commitment of love toward us. The only person that has been forsaken by God thus far is the Son of God, when He became sin for us. God’s commitment to us is so strong that the Father forsook His Son, to provide us a way back into relationship with Him!

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:35–39 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is someone that understands exactly how you feel and can bring you comfort. The Father has experienced the grief of rejection, betrayal, unfaithfulness, and loss. He alone can meet you in that quite place in your heart that no one else can reach.

Hebrews 7:25 Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Meditation questions: Are you taking what you know about God and allowing that knowledge to become real to your heart?  What “truths” do you know about God? What “truths” do you only say you know? What is the difference in claiming what we believe and believing what we believe?  What happens to person when they lose hope? Is any circumstance fixable by God?