It can be easy to make excuses when we are only answering to ourselves. I know because I have been known to make plenty of excuses myself.
BUT as daughters of the King of King and Lord of Lords we ultimately answer to God.
💔Do you desire healing in the deep recesses of your soul that feel broken – but maybe you don’t even feel worthy to be healed?
🙏Have you been praying for freedom from vice and the shame and regret that accompany it – but it feels like you have tried and failed a hundred times?
You are not alone sweet sister. These desires are on the hearts and minds of all those who come to me for coaching. This is true for our sisters who are in recovery and those just beginning to get curious about their relationship with alcohol.
In John 5:2-9 we read the story of the paralytic…
“Now in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five pools. In these pools lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or paralyzed.
Now a man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, said to him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk”
We make excuse after excuse about why we can’t get well. This can be spiritually, financially, physically, emotionally, etc. We seek comfort, hope, and healing in the things the world tells us will restore us and bring us peace…yet we find that they leave us internally blind, lame, and paralyzed.
Instead of turning to Jesus, we turn to a substance – or something else we think will satisfy.
These excuses and comforts can leave us feeling lukewarm about our faith and our lives – and that my friends is not the way you were meant to live!
Jesus tells us in Luke 12:49: “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning”
And St. Catherine of Siena tells us to, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
We can not do that if we are stuck in shame and shackled by disordered attachments – whatever those may be.
True and complete internal healing can only come from the Divine Physician
Notice how He is reaching out His hand to you and offering you healing and freedom – but know the it is YOU who have to take action.
I urge you to prayerfully meditate on this question…
What paralyzes you and keeps you from reaching for the hand of Christ?
Sit with it and think about what is limiting you both internally and externally – then ask Him to meet you where you are. Ask Him what steps you need to take to be healed. Ask and then be brave enough really listen!
