As a follower of Christ and as a Therapist; I am always asking the question, "How does God bring transformation to me and others?" Why are so many in the Christian Community not overcoming hardships and developing character in their lives?
John Eldredge has layed out in his ministry Four Streams that God uses in our lives that bring about healing and character change. In order to experience transformation, we need to be developing all four streams. The stream of Walking with God, hearing his voice, developing wisdom in our daily lives, being about the work of his Kingdom. The stream of Spiritual Warfare. God has an enemy and we have an enemy, Satan, the prince of this world, who is bent on stealing, killing and destroying anything that is good, holy and lifegiving. The stream of Counseling in which God brings truth to our inmost parts where lies and false beliefs have formed. The stream of Deep Restoration, where God goes into wounded places inside and brings his healing power to set us free.
I want to focus on one stream at a time, so this blog will focus on the stream of "Walking With God. Walking with God is a daily practise of getting quiet and hearing his voice. What gets in the way of hearing his voice, is our "false self" voice, the part of us that poses so people will accept us and love us. Also, the enemy can suggest to us a distorted interpretation of scriptures- think of legalism, phariseeism and Jesus being tempted in the desert. The enemy can also tempt us with the pleasures and worries of day to day life. Well-meaning friends and spiritual leaders can give us good advice but not necessarily what God is speaking to us (think of Job's friends).
Discerning God's voice from all other voices is no easy task. We must be aware of these other voices and be aware that God thinks so differently than we do. I always think of how God gave the Isrealites the Sabbath and then Jesus comes and brings truth to what God really meant by the Sabbath, not what the religious leaders had turned it into. Of course, we need to always check out what we are hearing and make sure it does not go against the written word of God. This is tricky, because sometimes how the Bible has been interpreted is not really what the scriptures are saying.
An example of this is the "name it and claim it" gospel. Jesus did say "whatever you ask for in prayer you shall have", but what did he really mean by this? Fortunately, we have the entire Bible to understand what Jesus meant and even Jesus' own words....."it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God". So an important part of hearing from God is knowing his character; He is love, justice, mercy, grace, and truth. He is all-knowing and powerful; He is the Great I AM. We are trying to have Kingdom thinking, which is a totally different mindset than what most of us were raised in depending on the family and societal influences we had.
The hardest part for me in hearing God's voice is slowing my busyness down in order to tune into the Holy Spirit which resides in my spirit. I am definetly a Martha who longs to be a Mary! Currently, I am trying to meditate on God's word, rather than do a Bible Study or just read the scriptures. I am going through the Gospel of Mark, because normally I would gravitate towards the Gospel of John. I am reading one chapter at a time. As I am reading, I am asking God to highlight the passage He wants me to focus on. Then after I know the context of the passage; I meditate on it, reading it over and over, leaving time and space for God to teach me what the passage means and how it applies to my life in the present time. Then, throughout the day, I ask God to help me walk in the truth of what He has just revealed to me. Often, this mean confronting false beliefs that I hold that interfere with God's Kingdom mentality.
I will give you an example of this from one of the passages I have read lately. Mark 4: 39-41 This is a passage about the story of Jesus asleep in the boat with his disciples while a killer storm is raging.
" The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
What I was struck with in this is "what is my default position when a storm hits?" The disciples default was "God, don't you care about us....." Jesus challenges this thinking, what you believe about God determines how you will handle this storm.
This is key because we all have and will continue to experience the storms of life! Being a Christian does not mean God eliminates the storms. Instead, He uses the storms to teach us about Him, about ourselves and about how to be overcomers on Planet Earth. How do I view the storms God allows in my life? What is God trying to teach me? What is he needing to transform in me? What do I believe about God in this storm? My default is "I am on my own".
Of course, God wants me to grow and mature, he doesn't do it all for me, but I am definetly not on my own. He can be my Rock and Refuge, my Deliverer, my Knight in Shining Armour. Do I really believe I am His Beloved? This is one of the ways God is transforming me, by changing on a deep level my faulty belief system! The more I understand the truth about Him and his view towards me and others, the more I can weather the storms in my life! Not only weather them, but be an overcomer, not on my own but by my faith in God and His deep love for me. He is a Good Father, and He is after my healing and teaching me how to live life abundantly.
