“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT)
“Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 NASB)
“…Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” (Matthew 6:12 NLT)
“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” (Romans 15:5-7 ESV)
From 1984 until 1986 I had the great privilege of serving as the Pastor of the church in which I was raised. My parents, grandparents, and great grandparents (not sure beyond that) all played a large part in both this church and community. Now I was granted the blessing of being able to give back to my heavenly Father and those who had helped bring me up in the admonition of the Lord.
The Lord was very active in the church and community during those 2 years. He did mighty works within my own family resulting in most of them worshipping with me in that place. There were many people “saved” and set free by the power of the Gospel. The average weekly attendance doubled during this short period of time and the word was starting to get out that there was a place available to experience the love of Christ and the goodness of God. To top it off, this was when my first child was born (a son – the hope of every young father). We were experiencing victory upon victory. As exciting as that is, moving from victory to victory also means moving from battle to battle. In the midst of these great victories there were also major attacks. I will share three of them.
Coming home from the hospital the night of my son’s birth an oncoming driver hit a patch of ice and went into a spin. Before I had time to react we collided resulting in both cars being totaled and taking the other driver’s life. She left behind a husband and young child. While this was ruled an accident caused by the spinning car, the blinding emotions of pain, grief, and anger being experienced by her family convinced them that I was to blame. In an effort to show my love and support during their time of pain I went to the funeral. As I was entering the building I was greeted by an enraged father who abruptly issued an order for me to leave. I was not welcome there. It broke my heart to see such anguish in someone that I longed to be able to comfort. However, my place was not to question his actions but to avoid bringing any more pain to his condition. I willingly left and went to a secluded location to pray for the entire family. I can’t imagine the depth of their pain. The enemy was on a rampage in his desire to steal, kill, and destroy. He wasn’t done yet. Now to the second battlefront.
While pregnant with our first child, my wife was diagnosed with a chronic neurological – autoimmune disease. It progressed through her pregnancy putting her and the baby at risk. She was able to carry nearly full term, but as they entered into the ninth month it was decided to induce labor early. She was able to deliver with a forceps delivery and both mother and child were fine. After 8 days of observation they were released to go home. Once home the baby progressed in perfect health, however that was not the case for the new mother. After a week or two she was readmitted to the hospital for what turned out to be a 30 day period of inpatient testing, treatments, and medication adjustments. Back then the medical world did not yet have much understanding of just how this disease operated or how to best treat it. This was the beginning of a 7 year battle back to health and well being.
The third battle took place at the same time as the car accident and hospital stay. This was a three-pronged surprise attack of the enemy. Bombs were going off on all sides. There were many days in which I would wake up, make sure I had on my armor, and ask the Lord, “What’s today’s battle Lord?”
“Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11 AMP)
In the midst of so many victories and wonderful works of God within the church and community, there was an underlying current of discontent of which I was completely unaware. Without going into any detail, there were two major misunderstandings that festered below the skin of the Body (church) which forced me to make the life changing decision to leave the church and 90 days later leave the community. This was an unexpected shock and devastating heartbreak.
We had envisioned spending our lives in this community surrounded by our family and friends. We had already begun dreaming about church expansion as more and more people were touched by the love of Christ and goodness of the Father as we preached and demonstrated the power of the Gospel. We were considering the possibility of raising what we hoped to be a growing family in the same community in which I was raised, believing for God’s healing touch to make that possible. I had to face the reality that this was not going to happen.
Why have I shared this?
Spoiler alert! There is a happy ending. This is a major relational breakthrough. It is also a breakthrough in my own inner healing.
The Lord moved me back to this area. Since returning he has been revealing things that I have been carrying deep within for many years without even knowing it. People that I thought I had forgiven, but had actually just tucked away, have now been forgiven. Hurts that I thought had gone away, but were simply buried deep under unknown scar tissue, have now been removed. And wounds that I thought were healed, but were actually simply suppressed deep within, have now been healed. Denial has finally been converted to deliverance by the mighty work of the Holy Spirit.
40 years later, as I am writing this, I am thrilled to announce that I am not only back among my family and friends, I am attending the very church and living in the same community that I had left. The Lord brought me back home. He is continuing to heal all wounds, level all mountains, and mend all fences. He has made a way where there was no way!
While there is much more to say, I am going to end here. We will pick this back up at a later date.
Welcome Home!