Receiving the Power to Be
No Longer Defective and Powerless
No Longer Defective and Powerless
One thing you may have noticed is, God speaks to us to train His people and bring life change. Many believe they cannot hear or are unworthy to hear His voice. Yet, He calls us to life change, to become like Him. He would not require this of us and then cut us off from His voice.
His voice is in the scripture, but only revealed by His Spirit. His word is the primary way we hear His voice because in His scripture He trains us how to think in ways that are opposite many of the narratives in our mind. The scriptures are the main resource God uses with us, but not the only resource. Just as important though not as frequent is God’s speaking voice.
If I asked you what the scripture says about forgiveness, you likely could quote scripture about it. Yet many of us struggle with forgiving. It takes years for many of us to get to total forgiveness of those who hurt us. This is even more difficult when we experience trauma.
What Will We Do When Others Enslave US?
Years ago, I was praying with a friend. We gossiped about the people for whom we were praying. God spoke to me directly about this. “When others frustrate you this shows you are judging them. When you experience frustration or anger, pray for them. As you pray for them, you will in time understand my heart for them. This will release them from your judgement and free them to be dealt with by me.”
Our Loss Is Real.
I did not realize it at the time, but the Lord gave me the answer to unforgiveness that day. There were times over many years that others did unbelievable things to me or my family in the name of Christ, and I struggled with bitterness. Their actions caused trauma, and that trauma still has physical ramifications today. Yet He called me to forgive.
Unforgiveness torments the person who harbors it. At these times I remembered what the Lord showed me as a very young Christian. Forgiveness and hearing God’s voice are critical. I prayed for those who hurt us and could release them from judgement, bitterness and unforgiveness. I see them now as a positive influence not because they did positive things, but because I determined to obey and forgive thereby turning a curse into a blessing. Their sin helped form me, but this cannot happen unless WE obey God. We can do nothing about other’s disobedience, only ours. God uses circumstances for good, but He calls us to obey His voice for this happen.
God has a prescription for our healing. He does not treat symptoms, but the source of our brokenness. Healing only comes as we hear Him. His word is a large part of this, but so is His speaking voice through others and to you.
When We Forgive We Choose Truth
His voice to you is critically important because only He sees the lies that hide from you. These lies guide your life. If He is the only one who sees them, then it takes His intervention to set you free. He yearns for you to be free so you can enjoy His presence in new dimensions.
Song 2:14 “My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.”
He wants to meet you in the hiding places of your brokenness for fellowship. Yes, there in the places you hide from the truth of your pain, He meets you. In that intimate place, He can show you the truth that keeps you from intimacy with Him.
The hiding place of our sin becomes our hiding place with Him, a place where He hides us in Him and He in us. Until we experience this, we find it hard to fathom. Pain keeps us from seeing this. So, it is important that we keep seeking Him in His word and speaking voice until we find this hiding place in Him that frees us from our pain to become wholly devoted to Him.