Have you ever looked in a person’s face and thought about what they could have been if they had chosen another path? It happened to me not long ago, and I felt it was truly a supernatural experience. Sometimes we’re so engaged with the daily grind, that we forget to take notice of those around us. I endeavor to get better at this day by day, by listening more attentively for the Spirit’s direction. If I see someone in passing, even without knowing them personally or speaking to them directly, sometimes the Spirit will move me to pray for them. We must be so careful to listen for this kind of direction from him. Well, on this particular day while waiting in a lobby with others, a man I didn’t know singled me out before I had a chance to take notice of him. He is a Christian brother, although I didn’t know it at the time, and he was clearly in pain, both physically and emotionally.
It was quite unusual, and normally, I would probably have been taken aback, but I had an inexplicable feeling of calmness as I listened to him first make small talk and then begin to pour his heart out to me. It was as if he’d been waiting a long time for an opportunity to get that pain out of him to a person that actually cared enough to listen. He told me that he was in need of prayer for his feet. His legs were fine, but the pain in his feet was so severe that he could scarcely stand on them, let alone walk. He said that he believed God was punishing him for the things he had done in his younger years. “God punishes us when we keep messing up.” He said. I was so saddened to hear him say those words, and then a most unusual thing began to happen. As he continued to talk, suddenly images flashed across my mind’s eye, almost to the point that I could barely focus on his words.
It isn’t wise for any of us to make assumptions about the kind of life a person has led, particularly when you don’t know much about their history or background, but I could tell from the countenance of his face that he had lived hard, and that what he had once considered a good time was far from it.
The indwelling Holy Spirit has helped me to pay attention to certain details about individuals that happen to be in my company, so that I can be of greater service to them in prayer. When we have a heart to be of service to others, through the Holy Spirit, we can sense when someone is really troubled and can almost feel the weight of burden that is on them. I sensed that the man was bound by something he was either too ashamed to mention or didn’t know how to express. He couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me, but the Spirit always knows and can give us information that helps us to pray fervently and directly for the person in need. This man believed that God was punishing him by making walking and standing very painful, and this wrong belief was firmly etched in his heart and mind. This is the way that He saw our Heavenly Father. He saw God as the punisher, and himself as a victim of not just chastisement, but crippling punishment. He was held prisoner by his own thoughts.
Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” This is a piece of truth that so few of us want to confront because it forces us to deal with what we’re holding in our heads and hearts. When our thoughts are mixed with our believing and emotions, they create a reality. Jesus Christ said it this way in Matthew 16:19(NKJV), “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” This key that Christ has given us affirms the power of our thoughts and words. He put the key in our hands, and we get to use it in whatever way we choose. So, it not only works for unleashing the positive in our lives, if there is fear in our hearts it will unleash the power of that fear as well.
There are some thoughts and beliefs that you and I are holding this very moment that are blocking our faith and keeping us from moving forward in certain areas of our lives. We could have progressed and burst down doors of promotion and elevation long ago, but we didn’t. And one of the major reasons why we didn’t is because of limiting thoughts and beliefs. They’ve kept us from seeing God as the wonderful, loving, generous, happy, holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, and righteous Father that He wants to be to each of us. We have the wrong beliefs about the Father’s love; therefore, we have the wrong beliefs about our own capacity to triumph through it.
Even though I had never experienced a spiritual encounter quite like the one I had in the presence of the man I mentioned, I was exceedingly busy that day and didn’t make time to fully process what had happened. It didn’t dawn on me until much later that the Lord was building a greater level of spiritual understanding within me. We must consider the possibility that our blessings can be blocked by the thoughts and beliefs we hold. Once we are aware of this, we can begin to reorder the priorities in our prayer lives. We can pray that our eyes will be open to the things that have held us back, then we can repent for those things and surrender totally to God’s healing process.
1John 4:18(NLT) tells us, “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” Suffering and pain have their root in fear. They did not enter human existence until Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s Word. Fear comes from the evil one, and 1John 4:18 tells us that there is no fear in God’s love. Heavenly Father wants to do away with our suffering. He wants to comfort us and take away our pain. And when our faith is not quite where it needs to be, God will help us. However, we must know this one thing, Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God; therefore, faith cannot support believing the worse about who God is. If we have wrong believing like this, faith will not come.
We can’t have faith and fear at the same time. Instead of believing that God punishes, we must believe that His love does away with punishment. If we’re struggling to believe, we must be like the biological father in Mark 9:24 seeking the deliverance of Christ for his son. We must ask God to help our unbelief. We must use the key that Christ has given us to confess the truth of God’s Word continually. 1Peter 2:24 tells us that Jesus Christ personally carried our sins in his body to the cross. He took our place so that we could die to a life of sin and begin to live for what is right. He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our sins, beaten so we could be whole. He paid the highest price imaginable so we could be healed. The least that we can do is to believe in the price he paid, and be thankful for the healing he offers. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“What Will You Do with the Key?” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!