Sunday, January 18, 2015

Don't Give Up Hope

by Donna L. Watkins

When I spend time in my journal re-reading and reading Scripture cards, I feel full of faith and confidence of the Truth that I am healed, but my heart/belief is not yet persuaded, so when I get challenged by a physical symptom or thought of how awful it was not long ago ... and could I go back there ... that's when I repeat and stand on the Truth that I'm healed.

However, before my mouth is finished saying what I think is persuading my heart, my mind is busy and challenged to add more unbelief to it because I don't see anything that's changed right then and there. I definitely don't need any more unbelief, but I am a visual person. I would easily fit into the saying, "Seeing is believing." I've considered that to be a detriment in easily renewing my mind.

Wall Words:  HOPE
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Before I could even ask the Lord about this, I looked up at my HOPE wall word and my favorite definition came instantly to mind that I've been quoting for months.

"Hope is confident expectation
becoming your reality."

But this time I used the word 'my' instead of 'your' and realized that quoting the Bible Truth, "I am healed by the stripes of Jesus" can be a fact in my mind, but my heart does not agree. I needed another way in. A back door that I could put faith behind and this was it!

I had the visual (seeing is believing) before me with the wall word and had already been changing my mind on expecting good from God. What we expect is the world we create for ourselves. That made me realize that God was stepping me through this progressive healing as I drew near to Him. He spoke Trust and Rest to me for over a year before I even began to think I could trust Him. Initially I thought I did, so the shock of when He revealed I didn't took time to ponder since I had to see what trust meant.

I've always been very self-reliant so it wasn't a realm I was familiar with. Just months ago He told me the focus was changing to know more about His love for me and that I should meditate on and focus on expecting good from my Heavenly Daddy - my Abba as the Bible calls Him which translates to Daddy. I've been doing that during the day when I catch myself not expecting good.

Tune into your thoughts and words you speak and you will be surprised that your heart/belief will come out and not agree with what you think is true in your mind, just like mine did on the trust issue. As I looked at HOPE on the wall and thought about the definition, I realized that my heart could grasp that and carry me through to complete healing because I already have a growing list of improvements that can't be denied.

I could see them and believe that, but when I used the word "healed" as I would from Scripture, the picture of healed wasn't before me and my analytical and busy mind was sucking up the unbelief of the whole thing which challenged and negated my attempts to persuade my heart otherwise.

If you are dealing with long-term diseases like I am (25-50 years), it's going to take more renewal of the mind and a gradual healing is okay. It's what most people get due to how we think of ourselves. A long-term disease becomes a part of who you are because you're not able to be the real you that God created and that you remember being. If you were born with health issues like me, you may have never had good health to remember.

"Yes! I do have a confident expectation of being
healed, whole and divinely healthy becoming my reality."

Carpenter Bee Drinking Nectar
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The body was designed to heal. Our cells are being continually replaced with new ones, but if they contain the same DNA they are not capable of healing. It's when we change our thoughts and beliefs that we change our DNA.

"Research shows that DNA actually changes shape according to our thoughts. As you think those negative thoughts about the week ahead that hasn’t happened yet, or that person who hasn’t actually said or done anything yet, the toxic thinking has changed your brain wiring in a negative direction and thrown your mind and body into stress." -- Dr. Caroline Leaf

[Read: 75-98% of Mental & Physical Illnesses Come From Thought Life]

God is faithful. He won't interfere with our freewill but He'll guide us to where we need to go if we place ourselves before Him to worship, adore and receive all He has to give us. The more we see and receive His love, the more the promises of the Bible come alive in the physical realm. When we expect God to be good, we get good.

For a very long time I thought it was all about understanding the spiritual truths for it to come to pass in the physical, but I heard a video message called "Renovate Your Mind" where it was said it's not about understanding how these spiritual mysteries work because our finite minds can't grasp this ... it's about relationship and spending time with Him until we know His love and goodness and it brings out all the promises of God that He already placed within us.

Don't give up HOPE!

"Placebos trigger biochemical changes in the body only if the patient believes in it. This confirms the capacity of the human body to transform HOPE into tangible and essential biochemical change. Illness is always interaction between mind and body." -- Norman Cousins



Copyright and Reprint Information - All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins, but may be used with proper credit and link back to the website, TheNatureInUs.com. Articles written by Donna L. Watkins can be reprinted with proper credit and link back to the website, TheNatureInUs.com.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Donna, this is so good. I am similar to you in our thinking. I catch myself having negative thoughts while trying to stand on the Word of God. You are 'right on', we need to saturate our mind, soul, and body with His Word 24/7. I struggle with discouragement at times being semi confined to home because of caring for my 90yr. old Momma. She is good most of the time but she tends to think about the bad things that could happen instead of the good things that have happened in her life. She is very negative, and also has the beginnings of Dementia. In our retirement time of our lives, this situation is very stressful on my husband and I. It is a day by day, or I should say it is a minute by minute choice who I will serve. Do I serve my Heavenly Father who loves me more than anyone could or do I give in to discouragement? Me and my God will win every time if I totally submit to Him at all times, good or bad times. And I've got to praise Him at all times too. Thank you for your encouraging lesson. Brenda Doan

sharingsunshine said...

Thanks for your comments, Brenda. Life has some hard seasons of life in it and we can only do as much as we can do. Jesus said He came to heal the brokenhearted so He knows what you're going through. Only we can make that choice each day (ea. minute :-) to serve or to feel hopeless. As it's been said, "it's not the circumstances of life, it's the way we handle them that makes the difference." Hard words to absorb. Sending some hugs your way ... I sense you could use some :-).

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