When our daughter was thirteen she began displaying behavior
that was disturbing and unsettling for me and my husband. She ended up in a residential treatment
center at fourteen which involved lots of family counseling. A few years prior she had desired for Bruce
to adopt her to which her real father agreed.
That was the last time she saw her real father for 3 years. Over the next few years her heart began to
speak lies to her mind. Her heart
convinced our little girl’s spirit that she was unloved…unworthy…insignificant…all alone. She couldn’t even see the blessings that
surrounded her. She was led by her
emotions and became spiritually and emotionally homeless. I remember during one counseling session the
therapist had us place five chairs in a circle.
She asked Kristen to place her chair where she felt it belonged. She removed the chair from the circle and
placed it up against the wall all alone.
She convinced herself that she was different due to her circumstances…that
she no longer belonged to a certain group of people…spiritually and emotionally
homeless. The circumstances that God allowed in her
life would end up producing amazing fruit but her heart had to catch up with God’s plans which didn’t happen for
8 long years.
But one day the clouds rolled back and she saw herself as
God saw her – the daughter of a perfect Parent.
She quit listening to her heart and allowed God complete access to her
life. She surrendered all hurt and saw
her life through the blessings of God…people who loved her…people who chose her… a
life full of purpose and pleasure. She
removed those spiritually homeless clothes that were tattered with the same old
emotions, stained with rights of entitlement and re-clothed herself with truth. ‘Put on
your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy’ Eph
4:24. Once Kristen saw herself through
God’s eyes instead of the lies of her heart she began to produce the most
beautiful fruit. God has used her in
amazing ways to bring others out of their spiritual homelessness. He promises this for all of His children but
not until we remove our barriers. We
must stand up, remove all rights and put on His will, His way and His purposes.
‘So if someone
cleanses himself of such behavior, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set
apart, useful for the Master, prepared for every good work’ 2 Ti 2:21.
All of these promises hinge on if. Aren’t you ready for a wardrobe change?
No comments:
Post a Comment