Shake Yourself from the Dust. Arise
9/29/2019
Christian Robert
Two weeks ago I had an experience in downtown Chicago that brought back some painful memories from my past.
Friday morning (September 27, 2019) during my prayer time I remembered that experience from Chicago. On my way to work a little later I was listening to a random video from Mark Murchison titled “Praying for you”. He was praying for people that are struggling with their past, and for Jesus to set them free. This was a confirmation in my mind that the Lord wants me to share this experience.
The enemy likes to use our past as a tool to bring condemnation, guilt, fear, insecurity, low self-esteem and many other toxic emotions, which can be a hurdle in our relationship with Jesus Christ. It can also be detrimental in us fulfilling our calling.
So, during a business trip to Chicago two weeks ago I was walking through the streets in the downtown area. You can’t help but look up and stare at the height of all the skyscrapers around you. My home is located in a suburban area of Texas, so I am not used to seeing such tall buildings.
The thought came to me that these skyscrapers are like painful past events. Many painful events can characterize the journey of those who belong to the Lord, for Satan tries to destroy them physically and emotionally since their youth.
Rejection, betrayal, loneliness, ridicule, hopelessness, spiritual attacks, etc. are all events that can generate big wounds, and the memory of them can tower over God’s people like a big building, and there can be many of them.
Then there are the really tall sky scrapers like the NYC empire state building. Events such as the death of your child, the divorce of your parents, physical or sexual abuse, public humiliation, the impact of alcoholism or drug abuse of a family member, marital infidelity, being abandoned by parents, etc. – those could fall into the larger category of painful memories.
There could also be skyscrapers from your childhood, even if you don’t remember the events anymore.
Many of God’s children are still in pain even if the events happened 20 years ago. The Lord may have forgiven you of your sins, and you have also forgiven those that hurt you, but for some reason the memories still bring pain.
Our past can look like a downtown area in which each building represents a painful event. Some of God’s children have more buildings than others, and some have more empire state buildings than others.
As I was standing in downtown Chicago looking up I was thinking about all this. The painful events from my own past came back and how some of them were still affecting me. In my heart I started to see this vision according to Psalm 18:16 “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters”.
I envisioned myself going up between the buildings. I saw myself being raised up. Eventually I was now higher than all those buildings. I looked down and there they were, that downtown area with the buildings summarizing each and every painful event of my past. They did not look tall anymore. A giant looks different if you are standing on the ground beneath him vs. you are in the sky above him.
I kept going up, and then the buildings were no longer visible. No matter how hard I tried, I could not see any building. They were now out of sight.
The Lord can indeed take a hold of you and draw you out of that downtown area of your painful memories, and lift you up so high and close to him that you cannot see any painful memories any longer.
I believe this is His will for His children for such a time as this.
Envision yourself taking the same journey up and away from your downtown area, literally, up in the sky where you can see the Lord and none of your painful memories are visible. Did Jesus not promise this to us?
Isaiah 65:17 “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
Isaiah 54:4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
Isn’t this the reason why the apostle Paul said also?
Philippians 3:13 “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
Isn’t this the will of the Lord for His children?
Isaiah 52:2 “Shake yourself from the dust, arise, O captive Jerusalem; Rid yourself of the chains around your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.”
How is the bride / remnant going to be a light during these coming days of sorrows and judgments, if there is still a cloud of darkness from the past covering his/her soul?
How is the glory of the Lord going to be seen on you if there are still shreds of dead matter attached to you?
I feel this strongly.
It is time to take that journey out of our downtown memory lane and go up with the Lord.
Let it go.
Ask the Lord to heal your heart and forget the past. It is dead.
Look beneath you. It is gone.
Arise and shine, and let the glory of the Lord arise upon you.
