A second source that the Lord has used to heal me has been people. Two people in particular come to mind: my friends Ashley and Austin. They're not at all alike. Ashley is a strong, assertive mom of two who is about my age. She is fearless and walks unapologetically in the gifts of the Spirit. She is artsy and a free spirit with an underlying grit and strength. Austin is a timid, relatively reserved twenty year old guy who is organized and methodical (typical engineer). I cannot see him hurting a fly (although, flies -- watch out for Ashley...). He has a gentle spirit with underlying tenacity and stubbornness.
I love them both, and both have been instrumental in my healing process.
Ashley has modeled for me what it means to walk in strength. She has shown me how to tap into gifts of the Spirit. She has called helped me to see that things that I thought were broken, bruised, hopeless were actually what the Lord wanted to use as the foundation for big things. She has spoken things into being, and used her words to speak life to me when I thought I was broken and beyond repair. She has given me strength and hope. She was probably the first person I knew who was walking in the gifts of the Spirit who I could take seriously -- who I didn't think was broken beyond repair or a crackpot. And she is strong and awesome, and to see her listen to the Spirit and yield to the Lord's leading has been great and a huge example to me.
Austin -- 14 years younger than me and a dude -- has probably been one of the biggest parts of my healing with respect to gender roles which is a huge surprise for so many reasons. He's one of the main reasons why I began listening to strong female teachers like Lisa Bevere and Joyce Meyer. He's one of the hungriest people I know when it comes to learning about the Lord and how to walk in the gifts of the Spirit. He hears the voice of God more clearly than anyone I know. He is a tremendous encouragement to me, and speaks the Lord's truth. He is stretching me further and further out of my comfort zone as He learns about and begins to walk in the gifts of the Spirit -- and because of how I trust him and how I see the Lord working in Austin's life, I'm willing to learn more about those things and be open to some of the "crazier" things of the Spirit -- speaking in tongues, for example. If this were forced on me, I would shut down; however, when Austin tells me about what the Lord is doing in his life and shows it to me, I am willing to hear it because he is so gentle. It is crazy how the Lord uses the gentle and unassuming. I am so grateful for Austin, and I believe he is going to bring healing to a lot more people than just me.
I am grateful for these two and the Lord has used them in my life.
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