Maybe I Just Imagined It…

What if there had been only one shepherd in the fields that night?

The fields outside Bethlehem?  The night when one angel (and then many angels) appeared with Good News for All People?

“Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord… Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God…”  (Luke 2:10-11,13)

Would he have brushed it off as his overactive imagination and just gone back to tending his flocks?

Would he have had the courage to check out the heavenly message?  Or would he have feared people would think he was crazy?  (A possibility he may have easily convinced himself to believe).

WOW.  Look what he — and the world — would have missed!!!

Maybe that’s why You deliberately announced this Universe-altering Truth to more than one shepherd, Lord.  So there would multiple eyewitnesses who could strengthen each other’s discernment and resolve.

I can almost hear their initial question:  “Did you just see what I just saw???”  AND their responses (aided by Your Holy Spirit):  “You bet I did!!!  Let’s go see!!!”  

By Your Spirit, they knew what was true.  And they took action in concert with what they knew to be true.

I was talking with a dear client recently.  She’s grappling with the pain of a life-draining issue she finally “let out of the bag”… i.e., decided to reveal.

The road ahead is challenging.  OK, so that’s a huge understatement.  So much so, at times, it all seems overwhelming to her.

But You are leading her along this path, Lord.  Because the future You have planned for her is better than anything she has ever experienced in the past.  And better than what she’s even capable of imagining right now.

And You are able to secure that future for her.  IF she will follow You… and do her part.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor… to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit instead of despair… “(Isaiah 61:1-3)

She had begun to wonder… “Maybe I just imagined it…”  

The Issue.  The Players.  The Choices.  The Fallout.

So You prompted me to ask three simple questions.

Question #1:  “ In light of the facts you have described to me, did you just imagine it?”

I knew the answer already.  But she needed to remember the answer.  The answers was, “No, I didn’t just imagine it.”  And she, too, has eyewitnesses to this Fact.

Question #2:  “What would be the predictable outcome if you believed you did just imagine it?”

I knew this answer, too.  But she needed to discover it on her own.  And she did!

Her healing journey would be over before it started. Healing she desperately needs.  And she would have no sense of urgency.  She would go back to the way she was… and remain miserable.

Question #3:  “So if the facts and eyewitnesses confirm it did happen, and the outcome of denying that truth is continued misery, whose voice is trying to convince you it didn’t really happen?”

Obviously, the enemy.  So whenever this “thought” appears… Consider the source.  Take it captive.  And make it obedient to Christ.  With the weapons the Lord has given us.

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

There are no shortcuts… are there, Lord?

We must Uncover The Lie.  Then Find The Truth…  and “own” it!!!  

Just like the shepherds so long ago.  Knowing what is True.  Then taking action in concert with what we know to be True.

All through our growing intimacy with You, Lord.

“If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples.  Then you will know The Truth, and The Truth will set you free.”  (John 8:31-32)

Pressing on… by Your Spirit, Lord.  I don’t want to miss anything!!!   🙂

Abba’s Girl

 

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