RENEWING 3: Learning To Hurt

I am currently studying the book of Isaiah. It is a VERY slow moving study because God has had so much to show me. I will read passages 5 to 8 times. I will pray over them. I will meditate on them. I write the truth I receive about them. Most times that process results in a sentence in the margins, but sometimes I am led to journal a text.

I journal using the SOAP method. So this means I copy the scripture, I write and observation about the text from it's context and dealing with the language lying underneath the translation. Next I stop and pray that God will reveal to me his intentions for the Application step.

As I was reading Isaiah 28:22 "Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong;" I knew that this was a text I needed to journal. After looking at the text, it's context and it's language I was sure about the message God had for me. Still, I stopped and prayed for God to write a message to me through my hands.

God invaded my world! I wrote about hiding from hurt. I wrote about boundaries I had built between myself and others. I wrote about being safe. I wrote about Jesus' desire for me to hurt. I wrote about Christ's desire to take me THROUGH the hurt, without anger and without my protections. I wrote about truly being enabled to love and trust people. I wrote about healing from the core what I have covered with works based cosmetics. I wrote about renewing.

It is true that the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. It is true that I am called in Christ to be the servant. Christ did not take on the role of servant to protect himself from hurt. Christ embraced the pain that led him to be the servant of our renewing. The renewing makes everything right in the world, and we get to live abundantly ever after.

Still we are promised, God isn't done!!!