Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 131
TRANSCRIPT
At the beginning of a New Year, we often evaluate the past year and make New Year’s Resolutions. Some of you may have already decided to start exercising or eating healthier. Maybe you decided to join the “dry January” group. Perhaps you’re going to pray more or read the Bible more. All of these are great, but that’s not what we will discuss today in our podcast. Would you be interested in finding out how you might achieve your newly set goals more successfully? Before you can improve things, you might need to do something to succeed in those goals. Join us for today’s podcast, It’s Time to Begin Again.
This is Cindi Whitman with Restoring the Foundations. Last week, Lee discussed our challenges of 2024. He wanted me to share my experience with you this week. You can relax—I am not going to rehash our surgeries!
Our scripture for last week and today:
Scripture: Is 43:2 “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”
When you’re married or living with others, and one of you goes through a trial, it impacts everyone around you. You cannot walk through the challenges of multiple surgeries without it affecting you spiritually, emotionally, and of course, physically. Your challenging situation in 2024 might not have been physical. Maybe you have experienced the loss of a loved one. Possibly, you lost a job, or your income was significantly affected. Maybe one of your children has a physical or emotional problem, or perhaps they are a prodigal? We all have things that we go through. Today’s podcast will be relevant regardless of your trial or challenge.
Let me say that 2024 is a year that I don’t want to repeat! If you know someone with sciatic nerve pain, I encourage you to have lots of patience and empathy for them. I have never in my life experienced more pain than I did with it. I told the surgeon I would rather have another baby without any drugs than go through that again. I’ve had three babies without using drugs, so I know what I’m talking about! The subsequent surgeries had pain and discomfort, but nothing like the back pain. It was brutal!
Between the surgeries, recovery, rehab, and physical therapy, most of my 2024 was affected. So, of course, was Lee’s. Besides the pain, one of the things that was difficult for me was having to rely on him for everything. For example, following the back surgery, I was not allowed to bend over or lift anything at ALL for three months. I never realized how many things I dropped! I would have to ask him to pick it up when I dropped something. Finally, we got one of those grabber things a friend gave me. I remember my 90-year-old grandfather using one. I had resisted getting one because of its stigma in my mind. It was my pride.
For all of 2024, Lee waited on me. When you can’t bend over, there are many things you cannot do. He did all the grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and anything needed. Not to mention helping me get out of bed 3-4 times a night and driving me to multiple doctors and physical therapy appointments. We experience the “for better or for worse” we discuss at weddings. Most days, I was limited to sitting in my recliner. The good news is that I do much of what I do for work, is with a computer on my lap.
I realized how much I don’t like to depend on others. I’m often like a two-year-old who says, I want to do it myself! Don’t get me wrong, I like to be waited on, but only when it’s my choice. Oh, do you see it? I was out of control of my circumstances and had to rely on others.
How does that affect you when you feel out of control? Do you get angry? Do you shut down? Do you hide? Do you question God? Do you feel helpless? Hopeless? 2024 challenged me in ways I’ve never been challenged before. We have endured many difficult circumstances in our 45 years of marriage, but this was in the top 3 or maybe #1 for me.
As I began focusing on 2025, the Lord whispered, “It’s Time to Begin Again. “I wondered, “What do you mean, Lord”? Over the next few weeks, he began to show me what he meant.
Our enemy, satan, loves to mess with our minds, and we are especially vulnerable when we are in a place of suffering. There was a period during the severe pain that I knew that I desperately needed others to pray for me. I needed relief from the pain, but I also recognized that I actually couldn’t read the Bible or pray for myself. I know that sounds like an excuse, but I’m being honest. For the first couple of weeks, it took everything I had to get up in the morning and make it to my recliner. It didn’t matter what I did; I was in pain. The enemy wanted me to entertain thoughts like: God didn’t heal me because…I didn’t deserve it? Or because I had sin in my life? Or because…you fill in the blank. Other thoughts or ungodly beliefs were: If only I had done ________, I would have received God’s healing power. When you are sick, down, or depressed, you need others to pray for you. I know that the faithful prayers of our intercessors are what got us through this past season.
Think about your trials from 2024. What thoughts did you have about your situation? Were your thoughts filled with hope and expectation of good? Did you know that any thought that we have that is not filled with hope is an ungodly belief, a lie, or a word curse that is empowering satan and giving him a landing strip in our lives? Things like, “It’s always going to be this way,” “I’ll never get better,” or “I’ll never have a job that pays me what I’m worth.” How about thoughts of hopelessness regarding your relationships? Your finances? Your joy? Your spouse or lack of one? Our thoughts can impact and limit our current and future life experiences. It is a battle to continue to have faith to believe that God does heal, that God does provide, and that God is listening when we don’t feel like we are experiencing that truth. We cannot base our theology on our experience.
James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
One belief that some Christians have is sometimes inadvertently taught by the church! Many believe that good Christians shouldn’t face trials or challenges. As James 1:1-4 states, that isn’t accurate. Also Is. 43:2 “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” Why would God say he would be with us if we were not facing difficulties?
These verses remind us that the reality is that we will experience trials. We will go through hard times. We will have difficulties, BUT He is always with us, and every trial is unto a purpose! We often desire to have the character trait of perseverance or steadfastness, but we want it without the trial! I am unsure if we can get those character traits without the trials.
A friend recently wrote a card encouraging us that she saw us growing in perseverance and steadfastness. I wasn’t thrilled with the message until I looked up the scripture and realized it was part of the process. When you count it all joy, you experience perseverance and steadfastness, AND when you cooperate with it, you will be lacking nothing! I’m still working on the “counting it all joy” part! However, knowing that the end goal is to lack nothing is a strong motivator to pursue joy!
A few years ago, I visited the home of a friend who had unexpectedly been widowed. She had a plaque on a table that said, “Choose Joy.” It caught my attention. Did you realize that you can choose joy? Sometimes, we expect it, but James says we must choose it! If we want the character traits of perseverance and steadfastness and to experience nothing lacking, counting the trials with joy is how we get there.
No matter what our circumstances are, there is a fight involved. Prov 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Think about that for a minute. “Above all else “makes the next part of the verse very important. Guard your heart. What does it mean to guard your heart? Part of what the Lord spoke to me about It’s Time to Begin Again relates to this verse. When we go through trials, it affects our heart. We need to “take inventory” of our hearts regularly. We co-labor with him and pursue healing to embrace life with a clean heart. If everything we do flows from our hearts, then it is vitally important that our hearts not be filled with the pain and trauma of our past. We see life through the pain and trauma instead of from a healed place.
Last week, Lee shared several Ungodly Beliefs or lies that he had to deal with in 2024. Some of mine were the same, but some were different. We have to individually ask the Lord to reveal things that we believe that don’t agree with his word, nature, or character about us, others, and him. Our hearts are affected by our thoughts. Our thoughts affect our hearts, so we must deal with both!
One of the choices I had to make was to give up the right to understand WHY. Why didn’t God heal me and Lee? Why did we have to walk through so much pain and trauma? I’ve concluded over the years that the answer to that question is above my pay grade! I’ve given up my “right” to demand an answer to the why. I do everything I know to do, and then I must trust God with the outcome.
Our enemy satan’s job is to kill, steal, and destroy. (John 10:10) He knows that if he can get us to doubt our identity as a child of God, he wins. He wins if he can get us to question God’s love or ability to change our situation. He wins if he can get us discouraged, disappointed, and eventually angry with God. That is his mission, and we need to recognize it. We need to know what we’re up against and “count it all joy.”
We refer to this process in RTF as a lifestyle. Especially after traumatic events, we need to identify lies that we believe, cancel our agreement with the lies, and hear what God says. Then, we can begin renewing our minds with his truth.
Part of guarding your heart is getting healing from the pain and trauma of the events. In November, I realized that I needed the help of an RTF ministry team to process this last season. We believe in practicing what we preach! I had tried ministry alone but knew I wasn’t experiencing the freedom I desired. So, I contacted a local RTF ministry team and made an appointment to receive Issue-Focused Ministry. We dealt with all four ministry areas during our ministry time using the RTF-integrated approach.
Together, we identified the Generational Curses and the Ungodly Beliefs. I spent some time allowing Jesus to come and heal my heart from all of the trauma, and of course, we told the demonic where to go! Initially, I didn’t feel much different, but I had done what I knew I needed to do. Now, I needed to walk it out. Throughout the next couple of weeks, I began to enjoy life more and felt the heaviness leave. This was part of my process to start again.
So, Cindi, let’s wrap this up. What did you learn in 2024?
- I was reminded of God’s faithfulness. His mercies are new every morning. I tangibly experienced God’s love through my husband’s and others’ love. Lee never complained, not even once, about all he had to do to take care of me and continue our work with RTF. I’m sure you noticed that he was doing all of the podcasts!
- I was reminded that, especially in times of trauma and severe trials, we need the body of Christ. We need people who will hold us up in prayer when we don’t have the ability ourselves. We need to get rid of our pride and accept the help of others.
- I realized that everyone heals at a different rate. I have to be patient with my own body. I have also come to believe doctors underestimate the time it takes to return to everyday life.
- I realize how many things I take for granted about my life. I have much greater empathy for those who are in wheelchairs and permanently disabled. My circumstances are temporary.
- I was reminded to be thankful for those in my life and to tell them how much I appreciate them!
- I was reminded that during trials, I should choose joy!
As you begin 2025, please set aside some time to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you if there is anything that you need to get healing from 2024. (or before) Have any generational curses been affecting you? Have unbelief and hopelessness taken root? How about lies you’re believing? Have you been speaking word curses over your own life? Have you received God’s healing power for the disappointments and pain from the past season? Have you exercised your authority as a believer and evicted the enemy from every place in your life? It’s worth the time to do all of these things. If not dealt with, these things can hinder you from succeeding in your goals for this year. If you need help, like I did, contact an RTF minister. Invest in yourself. Start 2025 with a healed heart, believing that nothing is too big for God, and choose joy to experience all God has for you in this new year.
PRAYER
Father God, I am so grateful for a new year in which we can begin again. I pray for my brothers and sisters that you would open their eyes to see any place where they need healing. Lord, we want to enter 2025, ready to embrace all you have for us. We want to be filled with fresh hope for the future and joy for today. Give us wisdom for today and the days ahead so we might experience all you have for us without hindrance. Today, I choose joy!
Amen.
P.S. Check out Kari Jobe’s song I Am Not Alone on YouTube. It is powerful!