Recently I was praying with a lady who is going through some
unbelievable stressful things in her life.  Everything seems
impossible.  She is a Christian, lives alone, and is also blind.

     Although we have prayed several times together, she went for
a period of time not calling or asking to pray because she felt
bad about not having anything to pay me.  Of course, I have never
asked her for any money, because I make no financial
requirements, and she knows that.  Yet she felt uncomfortable
about it anyhow.

     Circumstances have become so unreasonable and numerous and so
complicated, it has created an attitude of hopelessness and
impossibility at times for her.  When she described some of the
situations to me, I pointed out these current experiences were
acting as trigger points and tapping into the real woundedness
that was causing the feelings now.  I explained how the current
emotions were part of earlier events which had woundedness, or
lies, implanted in them which needed to be exposed by the Lord and
removed by hearing His Word.  Then, once those areas were
eliminated, that is, the implanted lies, she would not react in
the same way.

     In this case, she experienced extreme and intense anger over
something someone said in relationship to her blindness.  She said
she could not understand how this current experience could have
anything to do with something in the past and besides, she said,
"I thought I was over those sorts of feelings related to my
blindness anyhow."  so I used the following example to get her to
see how, what had recently happened, caused such an unrestrained
response.

     Let's say, you have a lady that has been your best friend for
years and this lady was sighted.  You did everything together.
You went out to eat, you shopped together, she read your mail, ran
errands for you, made bank deposits for you, wrote checks, dropped
things off at the post office whenever you asked, and you just
enjoyed each other as best friends.  Over the years, you actually
become somewhat dependant on such a person because they can see
and you were such good friends, you could trust her reading
private mail, filling out applications, taking you to doctor's
appointments, and many other personal things you would find more
difficult with a person you just know, say from church or a family
member, for example.

     Over the years, this relationship becomes very strong and you
both have become somewhat dependent upon each other because such
is the nature of any friendship.  However, one day your friend
unexpectedly dies.  This has, of course, a profound effect upon
you in many ways.  First, because your best friend has suddenly
died and your heart is filled with grief and sorrow.
Additionally, all the things you used to try and get different
people to do in assisting you, was being handled by your best
friend for years, and now you suddenly have no help.  You are
slammed hard back into the reality of your blindness due to your
friend's sudden passing away.  Now, not only are you grieving the
loss of your best friend, but you are back to square one and
forced to call upon others to do the personal things that was so
conveniently handled by your friend.  Things, which had
disappeared, as far as problems, or what some prefer to call
inconveniences, which were related to your blindness, are now back
in full force and, in fact, it feels worse than ever before.  Why?
By now we should be adjusted and matured in this area of life.
After all, it has been this way most of your life.  Right?  So why
are you being so blind all of the sudden?

     As the weeks and months pass, the frustration of trying to
find others to assist in reading mail, running errands, and a
dozen other things your friend used to always help do, becomes
acute.  It was wonderful to have almost forgotten your blindness
during those years.  Now, you seem to get mad easier.  Plus, you
now realize just how much you hated shopping alone and depending
on store clerks to help you decide what clothes to buy.  Your
mail becomes a curse.  Writing checks, paying bills, and filling
out forms, is driving you crazy because you just cannot find
anybody that was as dependable as your friend.  Occasionally, you
respond a little too harshly, out of frustration, and once again,
people are accusing you of being too sensitive.  Oh, how you wish
your friend was still alive.  She never accused you of ever being
too sensitive once.  The frustration of just living every day life
as a blind person seems to become sharper, and more painful, the
older you get.

     Finally, one day, somebody crosses the line and makes a
comment that always bothered you before as a blind person but one
which you always handled with grace.  Somehow, this time, it
feels like a violent attack and you lash out, losing your temper,
and slamming down the phone, you sit and cry until you can't cry
any more.  "If I just wasn't blind, I could do these things
myself," is heard in your thoughts once again.   The loss of your
friend is like a dam burst and your emotions are suddenly flooded
to the breaking point.

     Now, stop and let everything I just described, sink in.  If
you aren't blind, you may not be able to identify with all I have
suggested but you can grasp the concept.  If you are sighted,
transfer that concept to your own personal life and look at it
from wherever you are in life.  Perhaps you have some other
disability.  Maybe you have lost a child or a husband or wife and
the grief still returns again and again.  Perhaps you lost a
business and now can't even live from paycheck to paycheck any
longer.  Perhaps you are single and all your life you have desired
someone with which to share your life.  It makes no difference how
you relate to this story but I encourage you to put yourself into
this hypothetical story in whatever way fits your own life and
then continue reading.

     In my illustrated story, a blind woman loses her best friend
due to sudden death.  Now, the story instantly changes.  Her
sighted friend isn't really dead any more.  There's no
explanation; she is just suddenly alive again.  How would you feel
if you were the blind person in this story?  What would happen to
all the frustration, the anger, the feeling of helplessness or
dependency?  What would happen to the strong feeling of blindness
that had just been there moments before?  Your friend is suddenly
back.  You know everything is back to the way it used to be.  So
what would happen to all the negative things you had just been
feeling a moment before your friend came back?  That's right;
everything would stop and disappear.  Relief, joy and a sense of
freedom and liberty would come rushing back and everything that
was bad would suddenly be ok and no longer able to effect you
adversely.

     This is how Jesus the Healer works when He renews the mind in
areas of woundedness.  When the original source of the pain is
located, and any lies or misconceptions renewed or healed, His
Word, which is the only thing that counts because it is the only
thing that is true, begins to work and live in you.  Furthermore,
you suddenly and wonderfully become a partaker of His divine
nature through His exceeding great and precious promises, (2 Peter
1:3-4).

     In my hypothetical story, your friend afforded you life in a
way never experienced before.  When that part of your life was
blocked out, old things became rushing back in and you began to
experience the pain you always new was their.  When your friend
suddenly returned, all, I repeat, all was made new again and you
were free.  So it is with God and His healing power through the
renewing of the mind.

     The most common question I hear is, "I thought all this was
done at the cross.  Wasn't it?"  If so, why do you respond
adversely to certain circumstances?  Why does the anger suddenly
come rushing to the surface?  Where does that fear come from you
still have as a Christian?  If God has forgiven us, then why do
we sometimes feel shame or guilt over something that happened
years ago?  In fact, why do we find ourselves asking for God to
forgive us for the same thing many times over the years?  Could it
perhaps be we are believing a lie and that our friend really isn't
dead after all?  Stop and think about it.


I Flew Kites With Jesus
www.SafePlaceFellowship.com