I subscribe to Dale and Juanita Ryan who share heartfelt devotionals for us in recovery:
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith.
Ephesians 3:16
Sometimes recovery is exhausting. Sometimes we feel like a raw nerve all the way down to the core of our being. You can't touch anything without causing pain. In times like this we see clearly that our healing must be from the inside out. Nothing superficial will be of any consequence. We need our 'inner being', our 'heart', to experience God's healing power.
It is clear from this text that God understands where our healing must take place. The Spirit seeks to strengthen us in our 'inner being'. Christ seeks to dwell in our 'hearts'. God is not interested in appearances. God is not interested in performances. It is not God's plan for us to 'look good'. God's work will be deeper and necessarily more painful than this. The transformation we need will take place at the core of our being.
This may seem impossibly difficult to us. But it is not impossible for God. It is out of 'his glorious riches' that God can strengthen us. God is not helpless in the face of our brokenness. God is a resource-full God.
I have worked hard to look good on the outside, Lord.
But, it has done no good.
It hasn't worked.
I am not what I appear to be.
I need to heal from the inside.
Only you can do that, Lord.
Come Holy Spirit, to my inner being.
Come Christ, dwell in my heart.
Heal and strengthen me in the depths of my person.
Out of your riches, strengthen me.
Amen.
Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan
I can totally agree with recovery being exhausting! There are days when I feel like I am in a daze. My mind and body seem to just shut down and some how, by the Grace of God I manage to get through a day. And I know that for true healing, it must come from within, as painful as it is, it must be brought up and dealt with. One just needs to remember, that you are not alone in this journey! God is with you all the way, even though you may not feel it, He is there!
Remember, every stronghold held together in your life, is a lie!!! Counter-act these lies with God's truth and meditate on them!
God has been good to mama and I. WE are grateful for His grace. God Bless
ReplyDeleteOh, I remember going through the harsh healing. It was raw and many day I just cried until I could not cry no more. When I realized that I was God's daughter, Princess, friend and most of all that He would never leave me, I healed. I hope and pray that for you and anyone else reading this. The healing is so great and freeing. God bless you.
ReplyDeleteHi Tanya! Thanks for sharing your experiences and tears. Thank you too for your prayers!
ReplyDeleteILP-So glad both mama and you have been blessed by God!
Thanks for sharing and for BEING so REAL and raw. WHat a nice post. I enjoyed reading. and I would like to reflect on something that you have here. May I borrow a paragraph to post and reflect on. Let me know if it will be okay. I will give credit to you, and link to your blog. Thanks, Mile. And thanks for reading. Please respond to any old posts that you feel to. I need to know that what I have written is helping others. Or it is in vain that I wrote it at all. YOU made me feel that it is worth the pain I went through to write.
ReplyDeletesafe hugs. ♥
Mile, I am so very glad that you found encouragement here. Yes, by all means you may use whatever you need to. "We are all in this together dear one." Blessings!
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome. Thank you. I will post it in a day or two. I really learned much by it. And thanks for reading me, for your encouragement. mile
ReplyDelete