Here is a beautiful story worth sharing. Chuck and I are in a season of “calling things that are not as though they were.” We learned this verse in Romans 4 from John Dee beginning in 2000. Fast forward all these years and encounters later, we are still going after all that it means to ask, seek, and knock; and to declare a thing in faith. Here’s the catch. While we master speaking blessings, God is constantly reminding us of the same powerful effect of negative speaking. He definitely got our attention through a vision Chuck had and a devotional the next day.
Chuck had been counseling a friend to stop beating himself with a shame stick as if his constantly speaking shame over himself would bring freedom. Later during meditation, the Lord brought this image back to Chuck’s mind. But the scenario had shifted.
Chuck saw a man he didn’t recognize and he had a stick in his hand. He took the stick and fed it through a wood chipper. The machine whirred and growled as it chewed up the stick and spit it out as mulch. Then the scene changed. Chuck said he saw Sarayu, the character representing the Holy Spirit in the book, The Shack. Sarayu took the mulch and spread it around different plants in a garden.
Chuck said the Lord showed him the man was Jesus destroying the stick of complaining, fearful, negative thoughts. Jesus took the enemy’s weapon used to torment Chuck and made it something the Spirit uses to fertilize and beautify the garden of Chuck’s heart.
I mean. Wow. But the Lord didn’t stop there.
It is not just destroying the negative. It is replacing it with the truth of God. This is a portion of the random devotional I received the morning after.
I Hear His Whisper…By Brian Simmons and Gretchen Rodriguez
I work in the silent moments of rest.
Your life is my garden, and I am the One who is responsible to bring forth my fruit from your life. Watch me work in your silent moments of rest. You are a branch growing from me, meant to remain close and connected to my heart. Your life will flow with milk and honey as you remain in living fellowship with me.
When I created man and woman on the sixth day, I created them for more than labor; I created them for rest. Even I, the Creator of all things, rested on the seventh day. When you rest, I can restore and reset the exhaustion in your body and soul. All your fulfillment will be found in the satisfying Sabbath of my life in you. Your first love will be restored as you lay your head upon my shoulder. Come, child of delight, child of my heart. Come to me. I know all there is to know about you, and I love you more than you can perceive. I am gracious and tenderhearted. As you eat from the garden of my presence and rest in me, you will bear the fruit of my Spirit in your life.
His left hand cradles my head while his right hand holds me close.
I am at rest in this love.
Song of Songs 2:6 TPT
Side note. This is one of Chuck’s favorite verses. I love how God is constantly revealing His love and presence to us.
I love how He is the defender of our faith, our hearts. There is no place safer than His love.