One of my podcast guests has me looking intently at what she terms “holy moments.” She lives with bouts of paralyzing pain. Torrential storms of physical agony that can sometimes cause her to consider ending it all. These physical storms of torment do as they please tossing her to and fro in the intense waves.
Yet, when the demon’s grip on her body is broken and she lies crumpled in a ball at the bottom of her proverbial boat, the words she finds to speak are words of praise and thanksgiving.
Victorious once again!
In reality her pain is incurable. She knows the pain is lurking. It may have gone for the moment, but it will return.
With every resurrection on the other side of her life-threatening storm, she experiences intense appreciation. The only words she wants to speak are words of praise and the only One to whom she offers those words of affection is God.
She is intimately aware that, in every single moment of her pain, she is not alone. Moment by moment, second by second, He is present and actively engaged with the battle.
When evil breathes its hot breath on her neck and whispers words of shame and embarrassment in her ear, she has no strength to cry out for help. When the pain encourages her to raise her hand against herself and when despair threatens to swallow her whole and suck her down into a bottomless pit, the enemy seems to have forgotten one thing—the thing: he must answer to God.
Evil must come eye to eye with her Savior, because her God is the only One who holds life and death in His hands. He is the Author and the Creator. He gives and He takes because He alone has the power and authority to do so. Everything in existence answers to Him. Nothing goes unseen whether done in the dark or in the light. In His hands, death is but a mere life-to-life transition from here to there for those who call Him their Savior.
Evil comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but my friend has experiential knowledge that she is never unguarded. She’s never alone. Not for one single second.
A holy moment is having experienced her God covering her with His impenetrable presence, praying on her behalf, and protecting her from the full force of each blow of pain. Holy moments are experiential knowledge that evil cannot conquer her because God already has.
Holy moments encompass precious revelation about the heart of God. This revelation is more than just knowing about His heart or reading words on crinkly pages. It is having a firsthand knowledge of God’s presence, His incomparable power, and his unfathomable love. It’s finding Him in the lonely places, dark and void of human understanding.
When our loved ones are suffering, we try to ease their pain. We mean well and we desperately want to help, but we will fall short. Simply put, there are things we have no power and no authority over. At the most crucial moments in life, we are left feeling helpless.
Why doesn’t He simply do away with the pain and give her full healing? That definitely falls under the mysteries of God. In the meantime, my precious friend will surrender herself to the intimacy of His care, finding His presence in each and every moment, discovering something new about His heart for her.
After all, He’s the one who walks on storms and calms them with His voice. Without fail, she finds Him, not watching the storm from afar but in the boat with her, covering her with His wings.
Live Loved and Thrive!
PS – This precious friend will be on my podcast next week (Wednesday, November 25, 2020). Tune in to listen to the beautiful things she’s discovered about God in her pain and suffering. Also, visit her website: meredithbunting.com and read her blog post The Essence of Pain. Make sure you read that page and the following 4 pages that use the letters in the word PAIN. If you suffer from chronic pain be it physical or emotional, you’ll want to hear what she has to say.
Self Reflection
These questions are in no way a substitute for healthcare professionals or any level of professional counseling. I’m an advocate for taking care of oneself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These questions reflect my heart, NOT my profession.
This questionnaire is an opportunity to journal your thoughts and feelings. It can serve as a launching pad on which to evaluate your heart condition as you understand it. My hope is that you will take the truths you discover about yourself and hold them up to the Light to evaluate them against who God says you are.
- How would you define a holy moment?
- Have you experienced a holy moment? If yes, explain.
- What type of life storm have you experienced?
- What did you pray about in that storm?
- How did God show up in your storm?
- Have you learned the most about God’s heart for you during good times or bad times? Explain.
Take Action
Use God’s Word to take control over the traumas in your life. Whenever you feel terrorized by your thoughts take them captive by replacing them with the truth of God’s promises in His Word.
Here is a scripture for you to print, cut and carry with you and/or post in places where you will see it often. Ground yourself in God’s truths not Satan’s attacks. Encourage your heart and mind every time you are reminded of His great love for YOU!
Here is what God’s Word says about His unfailing, relentless, unending love for you:
The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:27
Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/God-Controls-Storms
Translation: The God of the Holy Bible is the God of the universe. Everything under the sun and beyond answers to Him and Him alone. He is capable of calming any storm both of the natural world and those that are figuratively in our own personal lives. Absolutely everything answers to Him.
