Tormented

P 2988 I can’t cope Lord.

/ DVH

There are times where we feel we need to make a ‘good confession,’ and repeat some scripture or other, when life has knocked us down — or we will be failing Him, or betraying our faith. No pressure or anything! I’d like to momentarily call your attention to the Old Testament where real people grizzled their heads off!  There are also plenty of illustrations in the New.

Today I want to point out that the Psalmists talked a lot about their enemies flourishing, plus having to hang around with wicked people, and their souls being tormented etc. So did the prophets. It is not a sin if you cannot cope! It is a sign of our own humanity. None of us are perfected yet, we are on a road with Him, learning as we go. We have the benefit of the bible, and the Holy Spirit telling us to ‘put our foot here, and put our foot there.’  And on many days we are walking up a very slippery slope. Without Him we would slip away. Overcoming is not just about having a positive outlook. Overcoming is getting up again, soaked to the skin by our own tears, covered in other people’s filth, or our own … and taking yet another trembling step.

The Holy Spirit is incredible. He can be in Dubai comforting someone, and in Tasmania comforting someone else etc. – all at the same time! He’s everywhere – because He is needed everywhere.There are some places that are so deep, so fraught with despair, that only Jesus Himself understands them. Other people can only look on in horror at our suffering. The Holy Spirit gives us Christ’s own words to shed light at these times when others are on the darkest of paths. But that does not mean the path is not painful. We cannot psyche ourselves into thinking evil to be ignored and pretend we are fine. That’s Disney – not the GOSPEL! God’s glory in these situations, is that these dear people keep on following HIM, trembling, walking on in naked bleeding faith.

In my limited experience, sensitive souls are often fighting off oppression through no fault of their own. If we are not careful we will end up developing a ‘Cone of Silence’ …thank you, Maxwell Smart! That spy loved that stupid thing … but it never did work properly!! Moving on …the bible is full of people who felt that what God asked them to do was bigger than they were. Starting with Moses, who pushed his younger brother into the firing line.  Whizzing right past Abraham – who tried to help God out because the Lord was taking His own time.  

Sometimes the “silence of God” can lead to not coping, and that is where we need our Christian families. Not to labour the point, but the other day I mentioned Ecclesiastes 3 — where not coping is clearly legitimised. God has allowed us time to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. That valley can be the death of a loved one, the death of a dream or the death of greatly needed relationship or position. 

Almighty God Himself chose to become human, so now He has a personal understanding of the result of pain in human lives.  Jesus stands next to His throne, praying for us as we walk through those valleys and He doesn’t have a stop watch on us! He has a big staff in His hands so He can clobber our enemies, not us!  We must always remember the compassion that Jesus had for people in all kinds of trouble, some of it self-inflicted.

There is no right way to suffer:“For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us!” Romans 8:18. God has a plan – it’s a good plan – because He is a good God. Jesus told us that we would have trials, He said this to give us heart, as we wade through evil times and circumstances. What He said is meant to be a comfort, because He is there with us. John 16:33. “These things I have spoken unto you, that IN ME ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” HE WON!! That’s all we need to know, and sometimes it’s all we can handle.

It is mean-spirited to judge and sentence others about their inability to handle any kind of pain. What someone else can blissfully sail through, might bring my life to a screeching halt. Compassion is a real word, and it is lacking in the body of Christ today. “When He (Jesus) saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36. And compassion is not just the ability to say: “Oh, I am so sorry that happened to you,” sincerely. That’s a good beginning, but it is not the whole story. 

Compassion is understanding that any sheep – plagued, damaged, and surrounded by wolves and lions – will struggle to keep going. Meanwhile what do we think WE are still in this world for? We are His hands and feet, our place in this world is to take kindness and compassion to those who suffer. Whether they are Christian or not. Faith fades when you are in pain. Many battles are too much for us – we need help from those around us.

I have often said: “I cannot cope Lord.” And I have seen the Lord deliver me so many times I can’t count them … but I don’t always whistle a happy tune…sometimes I bawl my eyes out.  He gently holds my hand either way. Showing caring compassion is the very least we can do for each other. Bye. 😭

P 2678 Love has the last word.

/ DVH

“This love means living in obedience to whatever God commands us. For to walk in love toward one another is the unifying commandment we’ve heard from the beginning.”2 John 1:6 TPT. Did you get that phrase ‘walk … toward’? Love always comes towards us – from Him, and in my interpersonal relationships. That’s because it never turns back or gives up! You know, I have found it helpful to read 1 Corinthians 13 looking for things that I am expecting, or anticipating development about, in my own life — instead of seeing them as things that I don’t have! 

When I see these qualities as things I don’t have, I will give up the fight to be transformed far too easily. That’s when I stop repenting and start justifying myself. Big mistake. Huge! Think about it like this – when I work hard to justify myself, then I can be proven wrong, corrected, shamed, by someone else who is more motivated than I am!  For some people this life is a competition, they cannot bear to be wrong, it is as if they think they will shatter if they are wrong. That’s just dumb. 

We are ALL wrong!”…as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12. I hope that this is clear that if we are ALL wrong, then there is no room for competitiveness. Suddenly I am standing on an even playing field. The only person who can stop me from moving forward into His love, and even more love, is me. I need to exercise my faith … what you do is none of my business. Paul himself says this: “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” 1 Corinthians 4:4.

Love is always waiting for us, because it is in the Lord’s NATURE to love. Now all the impediments are gone.  All I do is this, I ask the Holy Spirit to help me to repent and grow past my current attitudes and actions. At this point I don’t do nothing ← there’s a double negative for ya!! … I exercise my faith and step out and do the opposite of what I was doing before  … and I do it, on purpose. And I keep doing that believing that He will help and empower me. Remember the Holy Spirit wants me to win.

When I let Jesus justify me – I can live this life assured. I have proof of what He said, and Who He is in writing in the book. My enemy might have a million reasons why I’ve failed, but I don’t have to allow myself to be cemented into any of them. If satan points out my sins, then I agree with him and repent immediately. Repentance takes the ground out from underneath our enemy. Here’s another scripture: “Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.”Matthew 5:25NKJV. 

The prison mentioned here is the one we end up in, when we are tormented unnecessarily from something we’ve done or said … that we know we should not have done … or said! Real repentance is the key that opens THAT jail door. We never plan to sin, but if we do, we repent, to the person and the Lord. Admitting we are wrong, humbling ourselves, puts us in a position to receive from Him. It is only shameful when we decide to hide our sin away – that shows we don’t understand what we have been given. Why would you stay locked in a jail when you have the key in your own pocket? The Holy Spirit is the ‘angel’ Who will swing open the door of our own personal jail – just like He did for Peter, in the book of Acts.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”1 John 4:18. This verse is not an accusation, it is a diagnosis. The response from us to this verse needs to be – “Lord, I need to know and understand Your love more deeply, because I know I’m still afraid I’ve blown it! Amen.”  “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1, 2. God has even taken care of the possibility of sin in our lives. The reason we don’t want to sin, isn’t FEAR. We don’t sin because we know His Love, and we value that above anything else that might come up in our lives. HE becomes more important than any sin.

I can’t look at the sun and the moon at the same time. One will blind me to the other. I will have to shift my focus off me and my difficulties onto the Son, the One Who is the Answer to all of them. When I go there, I am overcome by the light of His love for me, simply because I’ve shifted my focus. The way I help myself to do that is to regularly read His love letter to me – I read the bible looking for His love. There are times when I will also find instructions, but if I need love because I’m drowning in difficulties and sin … then I read it looking for love. 💕 Love has the last word. 👋

P 2517 The Lord does not think the way WE DO.

/ DVH

1 Samuel Chapter 16 shows us some very interesting things about the way our God, Maker of heaven and earth – thinks. I really enjoy this story, it gives us great insight into the way the Lord deals with human beings. 

But first, please note! … The story goes like this, God did not want His people to have a king – HE wanted to be their King. Meanwhile,Saul is a dud as a king … He’s a king in the natural. following his own understanding.  Well, he kind of would be really because the people chose Saul – based on his height and his good looks. He was pop-star material. Yet he started out his reign out by hiding! Previously, Almighty God had said ‘yes’ to this man and now he’s hiding in the luggage!! We’ve just learnt something about Saul’s character and whether he respected God or not …!!

Moving into verses 2&3 of Chapter 16: But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’  Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate.”

People knew enough about Saul to know what he would do if he was crossed. Samuel is the Lord’s prophet and even he’s scared of what this king will do! So the Lord gives him a sneaky Pete way to go around Saul’s murderous ways, and sends Samuel off to Jesse. Meanwhile, Jesse has 7 sons and one of them is going to be king.

Verses 6&7.“When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

See, the Israelites already picked a king last time based on the way he looked — but God had someone else on his mind — David.  And even the prophet got it wrong!  God picked a shepherd boy, the least in his earthly father’s household. In the meanwhile the Lord has removed his hand from Saul and he is being tormented all the time. The king is a difficult man already, you don’t want to be around him when he is tormented!! Yet God sends David in. Draw your own conclusion on that point.

Verses 15-18:”Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.  Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.” So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.” One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”  Did you notice that even the servants knew what was going on? They were on the pointy end of that stick!

Verse 21-23: “David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armour-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.”That’s because God liked David’s anointed worship!

Now, here’s the interesting part… the guy with the anointing and a good heart could soothe the guy everybody else picked. King Saul went nutso regularly. Everything that happened in the kingdom depended on Who or what was in charge of that man!! Hang on I’m nearly there …

We can learn so much about how the Lord thinks from reading this chapter. He allowed all that stuff to happen. David is snagged into the court every time Saul’s tormentor comes upon him. Later on we find that that demonic spirit tries to kill David over and over and over again! This goes on for 20 years, and God does not rescue David! He leaves the man there in that ugly spot, running away from a demonic force. And David has the anointing – so he can deal with it!  I bet that shook someone’s theology! “There’s a time for every purpose under heaven!” (It says that in Ecclesiastes 3) And in the meantime … Almighty God is growing a KING. He took that young man from a teenager, into being an adult under pressure! He took a shepherd boy who loved to worship and made him a WARRIOR.

Sometimes we try to pray ourselves OUT of the very situations God puts us in to shape our character. He doesn’t think like we do. All those years in between tending sheep and eventually becoming a king, are nothing to the Lord. He is growing integrity in that man!! We need to purpose in our hearts to remember that God’s ways are not our ways. There must have been many many times David doubted every single thing that had happened to him when Samuel anointed him – but he kept his integrity in tact and served God’s purposes well.

Almighty God does not think like we do, that’s why we need to follow the Holy Spirit. God is looking for Davids not Sauls He doesn’t believe in popularity contests – He’s looking for the people who will serve Him no matter what! Bye ⚔️ 👋🏻. 

P 2508 People who have authority have great power.

/ DVH

Yesterday, I had an early early appointment to go to an out-clinic at a major hospital. I hate going there. That particular hospital and I are not friends, because I have had some very nasty things happen to me, inside it. Plus I’ve met very grumpy, uninspiring staff! And yes … I have repented and forgiven them. Things are so unhappy in there, to cheer the staff up at Christmas, I give the clinics I attend, chocolates.  

I was kind of grizzle-praying at the Lord about it – I know you would never do that  — but, sigh, sometimes I do. An-y-wa-y … as I was …… praying, the Lord interrupted me, and told me if I gave the whole thing to Him, He would give me a testimony. So I shut up … and gave the appointment to Him.

First of all, we were seen immediately and that never happens. Unfortunately you also never see the same doctor twice, and this one had a Uni student following him around. That fully qualified doctor empowered me by the way he treated me. Instead of the usual brick wall you meet in the hospital… I think I met someone who actually liked people and his job. 

Anyway, at the end of our short time, I told him that in 36 years of attending there I had never ever met one doctor, or nurse, or care-giver who cared enough to ask about my personal comfort: This nice man actually asked me: “How have you been? Do you think, that the medicine you are taking is helping you?” I was gob- smacked … going there often feels like an assembly line: this guy sees my liver, that one oversees my endocrine system, this one my skin, and on and on. No-one asks me how I am. Rather it is like facing a health test, and it seems like I’m failing that all over the place.

Then this very nice doctor utterly surprised me, again. He said, after looking carefully at my chart with all the various clinics, I attend on it: “With all the difficulties you have, you need to be kind to yourself and take it easy on yourself. You have a lot to contend with.” I was totally blown away again. Nobody in 36 years has actually verbally paid any attention to how my health affects my well-being! Colour me astonished!!

They have, in the past, offered me counselling for depression …which would mean more time at that hospital(!) Hah! Like I would say yes to that!! So yesterday, I was so empowered by this nice man’s attitude, I spoke up. I did that mainly because the young student medic was sitting there. I thought it wouldn’t kill this young fellow to learn that people like to be treated like people, not like one sausage in a string of sausages! You know, people with authority can lend you their power, by the way they treat you, and that is an essential part of healing too.  

After the appointment, I spent quite a while thanking Jesus for all that He did. He promised me He would surprise me and He did. When He surprises me, it hardly ever looks like I think it will!  Meanwhile, hubby went to get the car, and left me in my chair by the front door. And then another patient came in. He was incredibly morbidly obese, and it broke my heart. I’m sitting in my chair, NOT looking at him, weeping away behind my mask. (Masks are great for that stuff, they are good for praying in tongues too!) I did both.

I still have tears in my eyes when I think about him. At once I started praying and I will keep on doing it until the Lord takes him out of my memory. This dear man sat down. I immediately noticed that his very very large legs were purple, and his poor tummy was so big it reached the floor from a sitting position. I just sat, and prayed, and discreetly cried for him – I can’t imagine how that man copes in such a judgmental opinionated world.

Outside on his way to get the car, my husband was having his own adventure. He encountered a tormented soul who was screaming at some security guards. They were trying to calm him down, and he was becoming more and more violent and agitated. So hubby started praying for the man as he went quietly by, and slowly this guy started to calm down. It occurred to me, who would pray for all these tormented, and often tortured, very ill patients, if people with faith weren’t around?

As Christians, we are a people with great authority and with that authority comes His great power. This means we can change the atmosphere around us – even when we are learning. You know sometimes we can only actually walk in compassion, through identification. Bye. 👋