“I want you to ask him to stand, wrap your arms around him and tell him he’s forgiven.” Those were the words I heard the Lord speak as I sat looking at a very tall, muscular man sitting on the couch across from me with an expression on his face that reflected the deep pain in his heart.
The man had come in for prayer ministry with the hope that God could heal his broken heart. He’d just confessed some things that caused himself and others a lot of pain. But I could feel the love of God moving and knew that something special was about to happen.
So I asked him to stand and I stepped closer to him. He stood a full head taller than me and was pretty thick so wrapping my arms around him was not the easiest thing I’d ever done. But I held him the best I could and told him that he was forgiven.
The emotional outpouring that followed was as intense as I’d seen. The man was completely undone and as the tears and sobs flowed, his knees gave way and I found myself almost completely supporting his large frame. I know there must have been angels on both sides helping me hold the man up. It was amazing how light he felt.
As the grief poured out the Lord continued to give me words to speak and healing poured in. He was being set free from guilt and shame that had held him for years. The Lord was tearing down an identity built on lies and establishing one on truth.
This is an example of a powerful emotional experience. There was no fear left in the man. He was willing to let God see into the dark places of his heart and didn’t run from the grief and pain buried there. This is what we should all be capable of.
In John 11:33-38 we have one of the most famous verses of the bible. That being, Jesus wept. We tend to just look at that verse and agree that Jesus was emotional. But it’s so much deeper than that. Those five verses together paint a picture of Jesus that not only wept but was undone (so to speak) with emotion.
Verse 33 tells us that He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Verse 38 tells us that He was sighing repeatedly and deeply disquieted. This tells me that Jesus not only embraced emotion but embraced the fullest reaches of it. He wasn’t afraid to grieve openly. He wasn’t afraid of showing the pain of His heart.
This is the type of emotion that we need to be capable of. And we are capable…all of us. It’s just that there are blocks in so many of us. There are blocks that we have set in place to protect ourselves but they are, in reality, destroying us. The fear that holds the walls in place wrecks our ability to let God heal us because it keeps Him on the outside.
Not to mention all of the relationships that have died or are dying because of a gross lack of intimacy stemming from the intense fear of intimacy. But there is good news! Those walls can come crashing down. I remember when they came crashing down in my life. It was one of the most powerful encounters with God I’ve ever had.
Reconnection of emotion is miraculous and miracles are God’s specialty. Fear has made so many of us powerless. Fear of vulnerability, rejection, abandonment and failure (to name a few) have built a fortified wall around our hearts keeping distance between us and everyone else including God. If there is distance between you and God it’s not because He stepped away.
But one truth can bring those walls down in an instant. That truth is Perfect Love. I could go on for a long time on this topic but this isn’t the place for it (check out Life Resurrected or Marriage What’s the Point? for much more on this issue). For now I would just encourage you to ask God to reveal the lies you’ve believed about your worth and value that are preventing the perfect love of God from overflowing your heart. It’s the only thing that casts out fear.
Blessings,
Jesse and Kara Birkey
Sid Roth on Life Resurrected
“This next, greatest, and perhaps last move of God’s Spirit before His return will use nobodies to operate in a level of miracles that the world has never seen! This book will supernaturally release your faith to do the same works as Jesus and even greater.” -Sid Roth,
Host, It’s Supernatural!”
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