It was pointed out to me recently that perhaps this is so because of past relationships. For example, when a person has grown up not knowing the love of a parent, it may be hard to fully comprehend the love extended to them by our Heavenly Father, for they simply have nothing to compare this kind of love to.
How often have we read these words spoken by the Master…
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matthew 7:9-11).
It is the Holy Bible and we know it is true…but, the question remains the same, how can this be true for me?
This analogy does not just apply to the orphan, but to those who had an inattentive parent, one who may not have known how to express love to their child. Consequently, children grow up with a void in their inner beings. There is an emptiness, a deficiency that they try to fill with things, but things cannot replace the loss of a dysfunctional or absent parent/family structure. So, when they come to the Lord, they know John 3:16, but when it comes to believing God wants the best for them, they have a difficult time wrapping their faith around something they have never experienced in the natural.
The same is true of folks, especially women, who have had bad personal relationships. The man who beats his wife with a broom handle one minute, the next minute says, “Baby, you know I love you,” and continues this vicious cycle, has a wife who has a hard time understanding the depths of the love of the Lord.
The woman who endures a constant verbal attack may not accept the Lord whispering, “You are important to me” as being really for her. It is possible to become so accustomed to the negative tone and action that when pure and honest love comes from above, it is not easily understood or received.
What we have in this are people who are saved and Sanctified, Holy Ghost filled, and fire baptized, yet are, to call up an expression from the 70s, “living beneath their privilege.” Their inability to completely trust in every area is not something which will prevent them from entering through the Pearly Gates, but it does hinder their peace of mind and joy of spirit in this arena.
As I ponder all of this, I see my grandmother in my mind. If ever a godly woman walked this earth, it was my grandmother, yet she found it hard to trust the Lord completely. Her story is one of losing her mother at the age of nine, and having her father marry the 19 year old babysitter three months later. “Stepmother,” as Grandma always referred to her, set my granny out to work soon after, so Grandma had little formal education, and no parental guidance. This lack of nurturing can be seen in how she related, not just to family, but to her Lord.
What was needed was a healing of the emotions. Some think that emotions should not enter in when speaking of spiritual matters, but I would disagree. God fashioned us as emotional beings. The events in our lives are not easily forgotten, and emotions can be wounded as easily as receiving a bump on the head produces a wound. Thus the need for the Healer.
The experts will tell us that “there is sometimes no way to speed up the healing process,” and they would be correct. In the natural realm, sometimes we just have to wait things out and go through the process. But then there is God! I have seen Him do in an instant what years of process management could never do. His love goes beyond all human understanding and reaches to the broken pieces of our hearts and emotions. It is this healing balm which binds the wounds and heals the broken pieces, filling in the empty spot with trust and assurance that He wants the best for His children.
Emotional healing brings wholeness and is no respecter of persons. If the Lord has ever healed one, He will heal all. While the events of the past may have formed us, they do NOT have to define us. Our lives are not set in stone, in that once we head out on a course, we must remain there forever. We can receive these simple truths into our inner beings and be whole…
- God wants what is best for us
- God has our best interest at heart
He doesn’t have a secret agenda or watch our backs because He wants something in return. The Lord wants what is best for us because He loves us, and it is as simple as that. It is He who purchased us with His own Blood. It is He who came that we might have abundant life. Abundance in every area…heart, mind, soul, provision, family…every area of our lives.
God has our best interest at heart, and this is revealed through His Word…
Jeremiah 29:11 reads, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The Master of all creation thinks about you and me. The Amplified Bible reads, For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
It is the Lord’s desire that we walk in peace and have hope in the final outcome of it all. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Sounds like we have a Father in heaven who sees after us and wants what is best.
I pray today that those hurting from events long ago are healed and made whole. May they receive all that the Lord has for them, and learn to trust He will perform His Word everyday, in every way. In Jesus’ Name…Amen!
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