Very good article.  Thanks for sharing.

Vicki

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 8:34 PM
Subject: Would You Like To Become Well?


> Carol recently wrote this.  She is still quite physically ill but she
hasn't
> given up, thank God, and she sent this for me to post on my website.  I
have
> done so but for those who prefer to read it now, here it is.
>
> Phil.
>
>
>
> WOULD YOU LIKE TO BECOME WELL?
>
>
> By Carol P
>
>      One day, as I was going through a time of deep sorrow and
> trauma and God was healing me in many places following the death
> of my father and especially in the area of bereavement, I felt a
> burden too heavy and dark and horrible even to handle.  It felt as
> though it was that "immovable mountain" so much bigger than
> myself, but it was not so big that God could not remove it!
>
>      As we prayed, I was asked if I wanted this burden to be
> removed and encouraged to give it to the Lord.  "Yes, I did want
> Him to take it, and I wanted to give it - but how could I?"  It
> was far too big . . ..  I felt I couldn't even lift it!
>
>      As I looked for a way, God spoke to me and called me to come
> into His safe place, the shelter from the storm, and let Him do
> the rest.  He spoke to me with a verse from the Bible which says
>
> "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs
> into it and is safe."  (Proverbs 18:10).
>
>      Yes, it was easy too!  No sooner had I turned to Him and
> began to run to Him than He was there with me and the burden was
> no longer my responsibility but His!  He took it and many others
> also at that time and I found healing and release from many heavy
> burdens!
>
>      I began to see what a wonderfully safe place I had in Him and
> desired to remain there always, sheltered from the storms of life,
> as He carried my burdens and I received afresh from Him the
> protection He offers His children.  What a wonderful sense of
> peace that brought!
>
>      Let me explain this a little more.  In my early life I
> suffered a good deal of mental and physical abuse, and also went
> through a number of traumatic events.  These began with a very
> premature birth, a "near death" experience at two days old,
> followed by some long-term rejection by my mother, whilst my
> father had work which took him away from home on a schedule which
> was far too complex for a small child to understand.  I was forced
> to leave home to attend a school for the blind at the age of two
> and a half . . . Oh, yes, and the story goes on . . . and on!  The
> deep-seated real grief that I experienced over and over and over
> again, together with anxiety and fear as I was forced to be away
> from my parents and in new surroundings caused great pain in my
> little life, such that I was not able to cope with it in a normal
> way.  I became what is termed "Dissociated", where parts of my
> mind became fragmented as I developed my own special, complex
> "coping" mechanisms in order to survive. This is now known as
> "Dissociative Identity Disorder" (DID for short).  It was formerly
> referred to as "Multiple Personality Disorder", MPD),  but this
> was felt to be a misleading term.  A person with DID(MPD) does
> have two or more entities, (personality states) each with its own
> independent way of perceiving, thinking, remembering and relating
> to the person's life.  If more than one of these entities
> (sometimes called "personalities") control the person's behavior
> at a given time a diagnosis of MPD can be made.  "Dissociation" is
> real.  It is now not considered to be a psychosis nor a
> personality disorder but is documented by the professionals to be
> a very sophisticated survival mechanism for coping with
> overwhelming and often (as in my case) enduring, childhood
> trauma."  dissociative Disorders (DD) are now much wider
> recognized and are understood to be fairly common effects of
> severe trauma in early childhood which can be extreme and often
> require long-term treatment which is usually carried out by
> psychiatrists and/or psychologists.
>
>      This all may sound a little "far fetched" to you as you read,
> but I assure you that this Dissociated Identity Disorder from
> which I suffered is real.  It is now well documented on the
> Internet.  (See
>
> http://www.tag-uk.net/articles/dissociation.htm
>
> to learn more about this from Christian professionals.  It is
> exciting to discover that, not only is this more readily
> understood and accepted by Christians but also that some are
> recognizing the healing power of Jesus Christ in such areas as
> Dissociated Identity Disorder and other trauma related conditions
> and are playing their part in supporting and, most importantly,
> praying with and for traumatized individuals.  God does the rest!
> Furthermore, He doesn't have to use the pastor of a church to help
> those who have any need of God's healing.  Those of us who have
> experienced such healing know, without a doubt, that we are
> becoming "whole", so that we can grow as His beloved children and
> become more and more like Him and be those strong and healthy
> believers He wants us to be!
>
>      For the sake of simplicity in this article, I refer to those
> many "separate entities" in my life as "my own particular "little
> personalities", because that's the way I often viewed them.
> (Other friends also who still suffer from this condition will be
> able to identify with these "personalities".)  To me, they were my
> own "little helpers". Most had names and did various jobs to
> protect my life from all harm, or at least that which I perceived
> to be "harmful", and did a good job too, covering up well, for
> example, when (at the age of eight) I hid serious illness from my
> worried parents for a number of days because I couldn't cope with
> their anxiety, which I had already experienced in other traumatic
> illness situations.  I even had my own "nurse" and "doctor" to
> help me  through the tremendously painful illness I suffered!  I
> would  categorically state here that these "entities/little
> helpers" were NOT demons, as some would think.  I believe it would
> have done harm to me to try to "cast them out".  They loved me and
> learned to love and trust Phil who prayed with me and eventually
> were happy to let Jesus make me whole again!
>
>      This "coping mechanism" worked for me for many years, until I
> began to experience the healing detailed at the top of this
> article.  It was then that I discovered God's desire to heal my
> "Dissociative Identity Disorder" also.  After all, only He could
> really care for me properly, only He could really shelter me from
> the storm and He alone was able to make me whole again.  If I
> wanted to be whole then He was willing to bring about that
> healing!
>
>      He did a very wonderful thing!  He set about making Himself
> known to my various "personalities", as I may describe them here.
> Yes, He even got down with them and talked and played (as they
> did) until they were totally comfortable with Him.  It took some
> months of regular prayer as they all had developed in their own
> little ways and were afraid to move out from what they knew and
> the way they worked;  but He was patient and waited for the right
> time.  Once they were comfortable and wanted to live with Him in
> the light, even as He is in the light, He was able to bring them
> into that light and to restore them as one whole being again.
> This meant that I was now healed from the "coping mechanisms" I
> had adopted to take care of myself even as far back as a small
> baby.  He has recently talked to me some more about my need for
> Him to take care of me - that is, for Him to take care of all of
> me - and to protect me totally, in a far more wonderful way than I
> could ever have been protected by my own "little helpers"/coping
> mechanisms.  .  He has shown me that He can protect those inner
> parts, my thoughts and feelings that get so easily hurt, and keep
> me safe from the harmful weapons of Satan.  What a wonderful,
> loving Heavenly Father we have!
>
>      I have more healing to experience and more joy to come but,
> in the meantime, I am so glad to return thanks to Him for all that
> He has done so far in my life!  If you think you may need healing
> as a result of life's traumas, please contact Phil at Safe Place
> Fellowship and someone will be glad to pray with you.
>
>      In John's Gospel, Chapter 5 and Verse 6, Jesus asks a man who
> had been infirm for 38 years, "Would you like to become well?"  He
> asks this of a man who has waited a long time by the Pool of
> Bethesda without anyone to help him and unable to help himself to
> get into the water and be healed:  He still offers that invitation
> today, that we may become whole!
>
>
> Safe Place Fellowship
> Phil Scovell
> Mountain Time Zone
> Phone:  303-507-5175
> Web:  www.safeplacefellowship.com
>