Continuing the series of skills for Kingdom building: inner healing
Diane came to see me with depression. The cause was obvious. About five years previously, her young
son, around 2 years of age, had drowned in their swimming pool. He had only been out of sight for just
a few minutes while she was caught on a phone call. But the situation was much
worse than this. Because the child
was physically handicapped (to this day the parents have no idea how he got to
the pool) the police accused her of murdering her son. Imagine: she was not only facing the
grief of her son’s death but now an investigation too!
The charges against her were eventually dropped, but the
grief and horror of the situation remained. Diane couldn’t drive anywhere near the cemetery where he was
buried without being overcome with anguish at what had gone on. In her mind, there was a continuous video
that she replayed again and again of the moment when she discovered her son’s
body floating in the pool and the subsequent events.
Situations like this, or like the lady in the last post, can
cause intense grief. There is no
sin involved, but the pain of such events can be incapacitating.
Isaiah 53:? Says, “Surely He has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows.” In the same
way that Jesus dealt with our sin, he also takes our sorrows. So our sorrows can be handed over to
Jesus. He doesn’t remove the
memory, but he robs it of its power and sting. I often tell people to give the
incident to Jesus, to hand over to him the mental video of events so that they
no longer have the need to replay it, and then ask him to heal the memories. Sometimes I ask the Holy Spirit to help
them see Jesus in the situation.
What will he do?
How did this work with Diane? As we prayed together, she had a picture. She was standing by the pool having
just discovered her son. Jesus
approached her carrying the baby in his arms. In her mind, Jesus handed her son to her, and she was able
to hug and cuddle him and say goodbye before giving him back to Jesus. Jesus took the baby, and then set him
down on the ground. The baby
toddled away, giving her a wonderful smile, completely healed! We have a creative God!
The effect in Diane’s life was immediate. It was the beginning, and a major
milestone in her healing process.