Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Letting Go

Do you recognize spiritual warfare when you see it? When thoughts are rushing in your head and your heart won't settle...do you know who to call? When a battle rages within your mind, between truth and lies...how do you find the truth? When you can't rest and the burdens of your heart are too heavy to hold on to anymore...what do you do?

You can pray for my young daughter. For almost a week, we have been walking with her in what I believe is a spiritual battle. I didn't recognize it at first. She was tired. She told me that her bones were aching and I told her it was probably growing pains. When she woke up from a bad dream and told me that her arms felt too heavy to lift...I prayed for her like I always pray for my children when they wake up from bad dreams in the middle of the night. I sang to her and tried to comfort her. But her pain and feelings did not go away. As I asked her questions like mothers do, trying to solve the mystery of her ailments....I began to sense something deeper going on in the heart of my child that was manifesting itself out physically in her body.

For three nights she complained of the same feelings and pain, but during the day, she felt fine.
The next two nights...were fine...and then last night...she woke again, with the same symptoms as before.

I am sharing with you a simplified version of her story because God has shown me some beautiful things through her experience.

Each time my daughter was struggling...she explained her ailments in a similar fashion...she was filled with fear, and in each instance,when she was describing through her tears how she felt...she used these descriptions: her arms were heavy, they were full, she couldn't lift them, she felt like she was holding too many things in her arms and she couldn't carry them anymore, and finally...the words that came out of her mouth that awakened my spiritual sensitivity..."I have a burden and it's too heavy."

At that instance...I asked her to picture Jesus in front of her and to lift out her arms and give whatever she was holding in her arms to him and ask him to carry it for her. Through her exhaustion and tears...I saw her struggling to hold out her arms. I put my hands under hers and together we reached out her little arms into the air and I listened as she begged Jesus to take her burden.

I wept, as I realized that she had been carrying worries and fears, deep in her heart and they had become too much for her to bear.

So for three nights...when the feelings came often in the night, we would pray and she would hold out her hands and I would lead her as she gave her worries and fears to Jesus. I would sing and speak out every truth I could remember from the Bible in the still of the night as I lay beside her.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Every verse the Lord brought to mind...I spoke aloud into the shadows, comforted by the sound of truth.

Last night....my daughters voice called me in the middle of the night. As I lay next to her...she told me that the feelings had come back...through tears she told me that her arms felt heavy. But before I could say or do anything...I heard her little voice calling out to Jesus...echoing this time on her own, the same prayer I had guided her in praying the nights before. Her arms held out...she called on Jesus to take the burden of her worries and carry them for her. As she fell back asleep...I thought of Jesus and how he said to the children..."Come unto me..."

Dear Sister....Give your burdens to the Lord. He wants to take them.

1 comment: