You’re walking along life’s road, holding the Masters hand. You’re singing and skipping, you’re happy without a care in the world…
You wake each morning happy and content knowing your relationship with Jesus is awesome…the Holy Spirit tells you some amazing things and you’re thrilled at what you hear.
Then a few days go by and you don’t hear His voice. You go about your day and you feel a little off. You’re not as happy as you had been. You stopped singing and everything and everyone seems to be more difficult to deal with.
You become critical and irritable about everything. You try to pray but your hearts just not in it. Your spouse says something and before you know you are biting his head off. Then he bites back. Layer upon layer of dirt has begun to pile on top of your spirit and you just feel awful. You have no energy and you don’t want to be around anyone.
Before you know it you’ve isolated yourself. You see your Bible sitting on the table but you just don’t want to read it. Then you realize something is terribly wrong.
But you don’t know what…
You pray, “God what is wrong with me?”
You’re buried in so much mud that you can hardly walk. You’re shoulders slump and your face becomes weary and haggard.
But you’re a Christian…you know you’re saved…so why all this oppression and depression…what is it?
Sunday comes around and you have thoughts of skipping the service and you think to yourself, I’ll just stay home today I’ll catch it online…
There’s a tug at your heart… “You know you should go…” Holy Spirit whispers.
Then your spouse says, “You know, we can still make it even if we’re a little late. You wanna go?”
Without hesitation you say, “Yes, let’s go.”
So you get to the Church no parking space available but it’s OK we’ll just go to the back lot. No big deal. You get in the Church it’s packed. So you take a seat in the very back row. You hear one song, missed the worship, but it’s OK.
Then the Pastor begins to speak…He pours his heart out to everyone…and at the end there is an altar call…your heart is convicted so much that you feel like you want to be saved all over again…but all you really need is a good bath in the Spirit…so you pray and get clean…you cry all the way out to your car…still feeling the effects of the anointed message…
And then the next morning…you read some Psalms…you pray in the Spirit and the breaking comes…and God and you are one on one…and you are on your knees asking him to forgive you and he does…then he speaks…and he says…
I said I will never leave you and I never will…those moments when you can’t feel me or hear me it is because you’ve let so much dirt pile up between us that you can’t hear me. It’s only when you humble yourself before me and ask to be washed and cleansed by my word that all the layers of dirt is gone and then your ears are clean, your heart is clean and you can hear my voice again…
How awesome our Father God is, his mercy is from everlasting to everlasting…
Do you need a bath? Are you oppressed and depressed? Are you irritable and angry? Are you tired and weary and worn out from the struggles of life? Maybe your layers have become mountains…and you don’t even know you’re separated from your relationship with God. I’m here to tell you if you are experiencing any of this…get alone and pour your heart out to Him, he will listen and he will clean you up…it only takes a tiny mustard seed of faith and those mountains will come tumbling down. Your strength will be restored, your joy and peace will return. You will jump and skip and run with new vitality because your relationship with the Lord will be restored.
Don’t put it off…Go pray right now…God wants to have a conversation with you…and you will feel so good after a good scrubbing…be sure to get between your toes and behind your ears…you don’t want to leave one bit of dirt behind…
Take a deep breath and be filled with new joy…
The Joy of the LORD is your strength!
~~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 10, 2017
