Healing Part II Today I got a call from my best friend from elementary school. He is now in full-time ministry and doing amazing things. We spent over 2 and half hours on the phone, telling eachother stories of our experiences as of late. Then we got on the topic of younger years. I recalled to him that I spent 6th, 7th, and 8th grade virtually alone. I was rejected by my classmates, pushed around, bullied, my books would magically disappear, my jacket would be cut, my homework ruined, etc... I would be scared every day on the way to school and often cry on the hour bus ride back to rural home. My parents did what they could to comfort me, but to no avail. Much of the time, they could only watch as I would get depressed or act out at home. One day, many years later, I had a chance to get revenge. I took that chance, looking to get rid of the anger I had been hauling around for nearly a decade. I had returned home for a visit to Wisconsin, to see my parents and friends. I had completed SEAL training and was stationed at SEAL Team in San Diego. It was a winter and the same pack of friends that once bullied me invited me to go with them up North to ski. One night we decided to go on a midnight walk around the ski resort. While walking, we encountered 4 drunk young men that wanted a shot at the title (if you know what I mean. 4 on 4, sounds like a fair matching to me). After a little scuffle, I noticed that I was all by myself. The 4 guys that once were walking with me had vanished. So I started walking back to the chalet, until I noticed off in the distance walking away from the encounter, was the once ring leader of my childhood rejection, and one of the 3 who had been walking with me up until the scuffle. So I started jogging to catch up to him. As I jogged and fueled by the anger of being left alone to contend with 4 drunk attackers, my jog turned into a run. Then I began to think of my childhood years, and my run turned into a sprint. As I got close to him, I reared back my fist and let it fly just as he turned around. I caught him square in the face...HARD. I just kept my sprint and never looked back. I was hoping that a car would come along and finish him off, if he wasnt already dead (yeah, I hit that dude hard). I ran back to the chalet to finish what I started. I ran into the chalet with a rage that the occupants of the chalet were not prepared for. But I stopped as I saw the looks of horror on their faces. Five minutes later, that young man I hit, stumbled into the chalet. He walked straight to me, with his face an absolute mess. He said, Bram, I had every bit of that coming. I still didnt let it go. It wasnt until years later and after I got saved that my pastor (for those of you that know Pastor Greg), walked me through forgiveness and the consequent healing that took place nearly immediately. I needed some healing. Now, calling that guy and saying, Hey, remember what you did to me when we were kids? Well, I just want you to know that I forgive you!, would be a little awkward and borderline inappropriate. Im not saying that you should never do that, but Im a fan of living it over saying it. Instead, I made a point to show him that I was changed from the inside, out. Ive only seen him once since then and I was warm and welcoming to him. He knew that there was something different about me. I was wondering if I would rage in anger when I saw him again. But there was nothing like that. I had been healed through the power of forgiveness. This may, or may not be a good example for you. This isnt the only time I had to encounter the healing Power of God. There were other times. But as God revealed to me where the hurt was in my heart, I came face to face with the choice to be obedient or to stay with the pain, as buried as it may have been. It happened several times throughout my recent years. See, God cant take you were he has you going if you refuse to be obedient. Isaiah 58 says your healing will spring up speedily. He is calling us out of our mess, to go walk in successful relationships, victorious life, free from the bondages caused by the pain we once held so dear. You would be surprised how many people are addicted to their own pain. He has no desire for us to remain in that bondage. But if you are like me, hard lessons are the only ones that seem to take hold. The pain to stay were I was, in so many areas of my life, was so immense that changing was the only way out. But He acted so fast when my obedience showed itself. As if He said, now THAT is something I can work with!. Like I said before, this has happened several times in my life. But in the words of the wise Aaron Davis, one of the pastors at Oasis Church in Nashville, TN and a dear friend said in response to my last posting, Healed people, heal people. Well said, Bro! Many addictions, anger outbursts, conversationally controlling, manipulation, or abusive behaviors to name a few, are all symptoms of something in our lives that point straight to a heart injury. the solution is still coming..... I love you, bram
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 16:10:23 +0000
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