By Mary Lindow
WELCOME TO THIS PODCAST EPISODE!
As I promised, I had told you I was going to share a few podcasts and share a few wonderful stories and experiences that I have had where the Lord has divinely protected, orchestrated and guided my life and my husband Steve’s life.
It’s been a very interesting and intriguing journey, and at times very perilous and not at all fun when it comes to the persecution side of things.
For some reason, there are individuals who preach a gospel that say to the masses that follow them, “Everything is going to be rosy! Everything is going to be fully prosperous financially, and you’re going to be perfectly healthy every day of your life. Every single day of your life is one big, happy party!”
Well, for sure, this is not biblical foundational truth when you hear these things.
If you examine the scriptures, you will see that there was a tremendous amount of persecution and much sorrow for strong believers, even some having to be driven into living into caves due to persecution! The apostle Paul speaks about learning how to abase and to abound, meaning, he learned how to function and adjust whether he had plenty or whether he had little. But, he continued to serve Christ and continued no matter how difficult the persecution became, to get back up, even after he was stoned one time and they left him for dead. He got back up and marched back into the city, met up with some dear friends, went to the next city and preached again! (Acts 14:19-21)
This Podcast Is Going To Discuss The Current Groaning Of Creation,
Our Own Groaning And The Longing For God To Finally Complete
The Fullness Of Things So That Christ Can Return, And Of Course
The Holy Spirit Makes Groaning And Utterances Too Deep
For Our Own Words, Travailing Through Us As We Pray.
Romans 8:26-27 tells us this!
It says:
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
ALL THREE OF THESE TYPES OF GROANING ARE TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW. It’s no secret if you know Steve and I that we have gone through a very difficult season starting a few months before the COVID-19 virus swept our world. With that taking place, we had the loss of our counseling Offices, our dear friend and team counselor/colleague and key supervisor, who carried the doctoral licensure for our Counseling Center died from Covid19.
Adding to the difficulty, ministry invitations to teach and speak also came to a screeching standstill because people couldn’t travel and churches were suffering financially or were uncomfortable holding services.
WHAT IS ONE TO DO WHEN IT FEELS LIKE YOU’RE EXPERIENCING THE LIFE OF JOB OR JOSEPH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT? Certainly it’s not wise to pretend that everything is “perky and wonderful” and then lie to people when they too were suffering.
No! We groaned and we wept and we encouraged and we prayed and prayed! And then prayed some more with others who were suffering and going through the groanings of trauma and loss.
For the most part (and I’m truthfully speaking), I’m telling the partial story because the long version of the personal costs and deeper details would take entirely too long to share. I’m sharing openly and a bit vulnerably for a reason though!
We personally had parents locked down in nursing homes over a thousand miles away that we could not get to and one of them died after being abused in that nursing home. Oh yes, we had police and investigators and detectives and even the state of Illinois health board investigating, but by the time they caught up with the perpetrators and those that had dropped my precious 90+ year-old mother-in-law on the front-side of her head, onto a hard wooden bedside table, and then onto the floor where they had stopped using fall mats (because no one was permitted to come into the nursing home to check during lockdowns), her bones were fractured as well as previously from another fall we didn’t know about, until the x-ray team was sent in, garbed up, to run a scan on her. She was also suffering from dementia so it was frantic and frightening for her.
Deep Anguish. Deep Groaning!
The damage had been done and shortly after all of the fees and fines were placed upon this nursing facility, they placed her in a Covid-19 wing, and she died.
Alone. We couldn’t bury her.
We had one hour to make a decision what to do with her tired little body.
The Glimmer Of Good News was that my father-in-law, who was in an assisted living facility a few blocks away, lived a little longer. He only got to see his wife one time in 18 months and that was through an acrylic panel.
No hugging, no touching.
When he became more frail and tired, Covid restrictions were just then being lifted.
STEVE WAS PROMPTED BY THE LORD to fly to Illinois to see his father because he knew his time to go to heaven was near. A very dear friend that is like a close family member, graciously offered to cover Steve’s flight expenses and partial hotel stay.
Steve had two days of being at the hospital with Steve’s father while he was being refitted with a new pacemaker, and being treated for an infection from sitting too long and alone in his assisted living apartment. He had been moved to a new, fresh, clean, assisted living facility, where one of our nieces was the new head administrator. Everything seemed so peaceful and wonderful! Steve’s dad was delighted to be getting such wonderful attention and care.
Steve hugged him good night and said; “I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast Dad! Sleep well.”
At 8:30 the next morning, Steve received a phone call…
… From our niece, and his Dad had fallen into her arms when she went to check on him that morning. He had told her he felt a little dizzy, and then passed into heaven.
God’s Timing Was In The Details.
There was joy that Steve could go see his Father, there was joy in the new accommodations and “sense of safety” with the Covid restrictions being lifted, and then there was sudden sorrow, groaning, grief, and loss. Steve’s parents had made plans to be buried next to each other, but it was impossible, since Steve‘s mother had to be cremated due to burial restrictions during the thick darkness of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A BEAUTIFUL THING TOOK PLACE AMIDST THE DEEPEST SORROW.
Our United States military allows you to place the urn of a deceased spouse into the arms of the other deceased family member, if they were former military. Steve’s dad was a World War II veteran. Steve’s Mother’s urn was placed in the arms of Steve’s dad, her husband, and they were buried together. An additional blessing was that because Steve was there, he was able to officiate his father’s funeral. It was a full honors military funeral.
The Majority Of People Don’t Like To Hear About Hardship From Other People. Especially people in ministry, missionary work, prison ministries, those who rescue trafficked children or those in care giving careers. There is a “subtle suspicion” that suddenly causes people to pull back and pretend they don’t see the struggle or suffering taking place when they’re used to someone “appearing to look like they have it all together” or who have been some kind of a bright shining hope to them at one time in their lives, or are a ministry, or helper that they once looked up to.
YOU SEE, THE PROBLEM WITH MOST OF US IS,
WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE PAIN, SUFFERING,
AND THE GRIEF OF OTHERS.
We Don’t Like To Face The Reality
That We May Be Called Upon
To Help Those That Are Groaning.
Just Recently, Steve And I Were Again Facing A Bit Of Difficulty because he had an injury take place when he was working at a local Home Depot in a part-time job where everybody in each department take turns working at the customer services register. Steve being the kind of guy that he is, never slacks off in his work. He leaned over into a shopping cart because there was no one else younger or stronger nearby to help, and lifted out a 60-pound bag of dry cement to scan the price. Steve is 76years old. He is very healthy, very strong, but the lifting of the heavy object caused bulging discs in his lower back and he was in absolutely excruciating pain, thus, started a long recovery.
He Is Actually Doing Really Well Now, and we are so grateful for the prayers and the wonderful chiropractor and doctor that we have, who are both Christians and are 100% committed to working towards better health without surgeries. During this time of Steve having to be home and not working and going to physical therapy, we were both also still doing part-time counseling. Steve gradually had the strength to work on installing and fixing a small appliance in our home.
STEVE ALWAYS, WEARS HIS WEDDING BAND ON HIS LEFT HAND.
He loves that wedding band!
Sometimes we set our wedding bands on our kitchen windowsill close to each other so that we can see them next to each other and feel the “cozy joy and love” of knowing we are forever each other’s true love.
When we were first married, we had picked out our wedding bands, and Steve’s was white gold with a gold center band running through it, with a few lovely diamonds embedded in it. It’s a very special lifetime treasure, which we hope to pass on to one of our grandchildren one day.
Steve Had Taken His Ring Off And He Set It In A Strange, Not Normal Place.
I had been cleaning house and I noticed his ring sitting in an unusual place.
I thought to myself that I had better leave it there because he might remember where he put it and might want to put it back on.
About three days later, he told me he could not find his ring. He couldn’t remember where he put it and I went to look for it in the location that I had last seen it.
It was gone.
Now Here’s Where It Gets Interesting!
Steve had a little tin up on his bookcase in his office area. It was an old Altoid mint tin. In it, he keeps a cloth tape measure, rolled up very tightly, a couple coins, and I think he has some paper clips in there. But that’s where he usually takes his ring off and usually puts it in the tin, or next to it every night. He had gone in and looked and took that bookcase apart, and yet, the ring was not to be seen.
I had gone in and looked from top to bottom as well, looked behind his desk with a flashlight, you name it, and I was searching everywhere! I even looked in his sock drawer to see if the ring had somehow fallen in there, but we could not find it.
WE WERE GREATLY DISCOURAGED, HEARTSICK, SADDENED.
Yes, it was another time groaning, another disappointment another loss, and although it may seem to be materialistic to some, this was something emotional. It was a bond between us both, that when we took our vows we put those rings on each other‘s hands looking firmly in each other’s eyes saying, “till death do us part”.
You don’t want to replace something like that.
It has history. It has memories. It has weight to it.
One week passed.
Two weeks passed.
Three weeks passed.
We still could not find it.
I Even Took My Vacuum Cleaner Bag Out And Put A Mask On and poked through it’s contents with a pencil into every single dusty section to see if maybe it had gotten suctioned up into the bag. Nope, it wasn’t in there.
I finally decided I was going to share it in the Kingdom Prayer rooms on Faith United Network’s Christian media site. I’m part of a team of prayer warriors there that pray for people from everywhere, and we fervently pray for, “everything”. Several people decided they were going to get busy praying with us and I basically said that our hearts are broken.
It’s been something that we just were in anguish over.
ONE AFTERNOON I WENT TO LAY DOWN ON OUR BED TO REST.
The next day was Father’s Day.
As I lay there I asked the Lord if he would please by his grace, by his mercy, guide me to that ring, show me where it was. I spoke to the Lord saying to him that it would be such an indicator of great love for Steve to find that ring for Father’s Day. It would mean so much to know that the Father cared about even the slightest detail of our lives.
I Just Could Not Sleep During That Nap After Praying And Crying A Little Bit. So, I got up and something prompted me to go back into Steve‘s office and look in that mint tin, one more time.
Now remember…
Steve had looked in there and I had looked in there thoroughly.
As I took the tin down and held it closer to my line of sight, at first I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! Right there, perfectly placed like an egg in the middle of a nest, right in the middle of the wound up cloth measuring tape, perfectly wrapped around it, was Steve’s ring, sitting in the center of it. If we missed seeing it, then we missed it! But I know, and Steve knows that we both had looked in that location several times to no avail. If the Lord in his kindness and his goodness decided to make sure that the ring was put in a place and then prompted me to go look one more time, I’m going to receive it in childlike faith that he cared so much that let us know.
THE HEAVENLY FATHER CARES ABOUT THE VERY SMALLEST OF THINGS!
Now, some may say, “This is foolishness! Why would God care so much about a ring, and why would he possibly move it or have you see it in a different way?”
There’s Another Interesting Happening In The Scripture.
The floating ax head is a story from 2 Kings 6:1-7, where the prophet Elisha helps a man who lost a borrowed ax head in the water. Elisha performs a miracle by making the iron ax head, float to the surface, demonstrating God's care for even small concerns in our lives.
There’s Also A Story Of The Woman Who Had Lost One Of Her Ten Silver Coins. When she swept her house and looked everywhere for it and when she found it, she went outside and all of her neighbors rejoiced with her. (Luke 15:8-10)
I WAS SO EXCITED that I’d been prompted to go look specifically in the location of Steve’s ring! I put it on my finger and walked out and smiled at Steve and I said, “Guess what? Happy Father’s Day!” He was so delighted and we both cried a little bit, then and then stopped and gave God huge thanks, and then of course I immediately went and shared with the prayer group that the ring had been found! Yippee! There was genuine delight and genuine rejoicing!
Dear Believer!
God IS In The Smallest Of Details.
He’s In The Little Things That Matter.
RIGHT NOW WE ARE EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED DEVASTATIONS, HATRED, AND TURMOIL IN THE WORLD. Some say that things may be getting better, but maybe in another location it’s becoming more difficult.
THE EARTH IS GROANING!
We are aching and groaning and questioning!
We are crying out to God saying,
“What is going on? What more can we do? How can we pray?
Why are so many suffering?
Why are the answers not coming?
Why is it taking so long?
Why do I have to wait for the answer?”
Friends, Inside Of All Of Us, The Holy Spirit Is Groaning.
That is the urging for us to pray, to cry out and weep before God with groaning too deep for even our own words.
The needs of God‘s people, and the cry for God’s intervention is as urgent in our days as it was in the time of Isaiah. I’m concerned that we may have forgotten the proper concept of what the so-called Christian life is in the sight of God.
Honestly, unless God comes down as “when the melting fire burns to make his name known to his adversaries”, our efforts to stop these unrelenting attacks are pretty much fruitless. That’s from Isaiah 64:2
LOOK AT THE PICTURE OF MANY IN PUBLIC MINISTRY RIGHT NOW!
How much of it presented in the wisdom of man, applauding the talent, the charisma and the physical appearance? And yet how little of the demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s genuine power.
THE BIBLE DOESN’T HIDE BROKENNESS.
It doesn’t tie up pain up in a neat little package. What it does is, it shows us the kind of hope that enters into our suffering.
A hope that weeps, a hope that groans.
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
The Hebrew Word For “Near” Doesn’t Mean Help Is On Its Way.
No! It’s a much more in its potent meaning! It means “present” -right now. Close enough for you to feel God’s breath while he speaks in your ear that. He is there.
The Word “Crushed” Is Also Strong Word.
When you’re crushed, you feel ground down, shattered, and at times you cannot lift your head.
Friends! God doesn’t despise you or ignore you when you’re crushed.
Actually, he moves TOWARDS you.
He definitely doesn’t say, “get up and stop your sniveling”, first!
Instead he says, “I will reach down and help you.” He did this through sharing, sending his son Jesus Christ.
Love came down to us…
DC Robertson In His 30 Day Devotional Book Titled “Hope For The Broken” Made Very Powerful Statements. I Will Share A Few With You.
“Hope doesn’t start when the storm passes. It starts when you realize you are not alone in the storm. This is a place where the real journey of Hope begins, not in the removal or the resolution of our pain, but in the nearness of God TO us while we are IN pain.
That’s what sets biblical hope apart from motivational thinking.
It’s not about finding the silver lining. It’s about finding the savior in the dark.”
FRIENDS. THE CHURCH IN A BROADER SENSE,
IS SUFFERING GREATLY BY HER OWN HANDS.
Self harm, whether it’s by individuals or institutions, without a doubt involves defective thinking that is a side effect of self-deception.
Many Of Us Are Grieved And Groan At The Devastation In The Church That Happens When Victims Are Silenced And When Abusers Are Protected.
So often, Power is abused and truth is hidden from those considered by the deceivers as “the less powerful” in the body of Christ. His bride is still struggling with being unwell and too often is found to be “unsafe”.
DR. DIANE LANGBERG HAS SO MANY GOOD STATEMENTS TO SAY ABOUT THESE THINGS. RECENTLY, I READ THIS EXCERPT FROM ONE OF HER POSTS.
“It’s extremely important to remember that all power is given to us. The power that is operating in someone’s position, they’re gifting, their knowledge or verbal ability, or their spiritual authority has one source. All of that power comes from Christ. He said to us all power is given to ME in heaven and on earth, it’s not ours! It’s his and it’s to be used in humility and in alignment with his word and his character.
He who had all power never used it to feed off of a vulnerable person or to increase his stature or to protect himself. Any power that we have is his and is to be used to bless others with his grace and truth.”
Christian psychologist Diane Langberg is a deeply intelligent and humble woman who has arbitrated among war torn countries, advocating for healing and preaching Christ through loving actions and helping reconciliation take place. She makes very potent yet honest assessments regarding the condition of many of the houses of worship being exposed today.
I’D ABSOLUTELY SAY FRIENDS
THAT THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF GROANING GOING ON
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT GROANS AS HE SEES
THE DECEPTION AND THE HARM BEING DONE!
Here are Diane’s words;
“Where do we who serve a holy God, full of grace and truth, find justification for protecting a place where he desires to dwell, when that place is full of sin and harm done to his lambs? When this is done, we have failed to meet even the requirements of the law of the land, which calls the abuse of children and spouses criminal.
Jesus cleansed the temple twice. His people did not listen. The spiritual leaders of the people failed to obey him. The desecration of God‘s house and his people were scathingly denounced by both Jeremiah and Jesus.
We who are the people of God, who worship in his sanctuary, need to pay heed and listen!
Our God would have his refuge be holy, like he is holy. And in Matthew, after Jesus cleansed the temple the second time, he gave us a clear view of his ability to restore God‘s house to its true calling, giving us a picture of what that restoration looks like!
After the cleansing, the wounded and the sick came in and he healed them. And the little ones came into the temple and sang praises to our God.
When the people of God expose deeds of darkness and the wolves in our midst that commit them, the wounded are healed, and the children sing. It is then that we will know the sanctuary of our God is indeed a holy dwelling for our Lord’s Holy Spirit and a safe harbor for his lambs.
One of the measurements of our faithfulness to God is in the way that we conduct ourselves in relationship to our fellow humans.
A second measure of our faithfulness to God is in the stamping out and the calling out of sins that harm humanity.
When these conditions are met, we as his people then live out the character of a holy and loving God and do this in front of the afflicted and needy while a watching world observes.
It’s when we chase out the darkness and we address the corruption and provide a true sanctuary of safety, that we once again become a holy and a safe place.”
(Excerpt From the Book “In Our Lives First” - Meditations For Counselors. Volume 2)
DIANE’S WORDS HAVE A DEEP CONVICTING MESSAGE!
Holy Spirit groaning most definitely takes place as you digest and pray over her words.
The truth can cut deep into our denial of things. The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus, and he told his disciples that he would send another, which would be the Holy Spirit who would convict the world of sin.
Conviction Causes Us To Groan As The Holy Spirit Groans,
Seeing The Condition Our Own Souls And The Souls
Of The Present Day Deceivers Of Our Current Day.
CREATION GROANS!
Romans 8:22-23 so deeply expresses this “groaning of all creation and longing” as we wait upon God, waiting for him to transform every aspect of our lives as individual temples of the Holy Spirit and to transform his church, making his bride spotless and without blemishes or malice.
22 “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together as if in the pains of childbirth until now.
23 And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body at the resurrection].”
FRIENDS, THE WAITING IS SOMETIMES PAINFUL.
The groaning of the whole of creation describes the state of suffering and dissatisfaction with everything we have today!
Look at how the earthquakes and the tragic floods and heartbreak of their aftermath, the fires burning in the West and the winds are groaning in the Earth right now!
We know - we feel - deep down inside that something is wrong! Our anxiety and frustration is our inward groaning.
SO WHAT’S TO BE DONE?
THERE’S ONLY ONE THING.
We wait upon God.
We must cry with a cry that never rests! We say to him, “Oh that you would open the heavens and come down, that the mountains might flow down with your presence!” That’s Isaiah 64 verse 1.
We must desire, groan in prayer and believe, and we must ask and expect that God would show us Unseen, Unknown things.
Jeremiah 33:3 says,
“Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.”
IF HE CAN SHOW ME IN MY SIMPLE MINDED HEART CRY, exactly where my husband‘s wedding ring had been misplaced, or where it had been lost and he had in fact, placed it where I could find it, can he not show us great and mighty things that we know nothing about?
Oh Weary Listener! We must put our trust in a God who men absolutely don’t know exactly how he goes about preparing acts of great grace and compassion for them!
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE
WAITING FOR HIM TO FREE YOU,
TO VINDICATE YOU AND OTHERS
FROM GROSS LOSSES AND HARM,
KNOW THAT THIS WONDER WORKING,
MIRACLE DOING GOD,
CAN SURPASS ALL OF OUR EXPECTATIONS.
It Must Be The Only One True God Who We Put Our Trust In.
Yes! Let us as God’s people prepare him room in our hearts to wait on a God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above, what any of us could ask or think. That’s Ephesians chapter 3 vs. 20.
Let’s join ourselves together as his chosen ones who cry day and night to him for things that men have not seen! He is able to arise and to make his people a name filled with praise and humble adoration in the Earth!
Isaiah 38 verse 18 says,
“The Lord will wait, that he may be gracious to you,
Blessed are all those that wait for him.”
In Closing Out This Podcast,
I’d Like To Say Lovingly But Clearly,
We Must Take Time To Develop
This Much Needed Element Of Our Christian Walk.
I Echo Andrew Murray, Who Often Talks About How Little We Wait Upon God. We get too much secondhand teaching and spiritual information from the teachings of men. Now, that teaching may have great value, even like the spiritual information, John the Baptist sent his disciples away with, but he sent them to the living Christ. If the teaching leads us to God himself, then it’s good teaching. But what our lives need is more of God.
Anyone who wants to learn the beauty of waiting on God would do himself or herself a great favor to remember the lesson from Isaiah chapter 7 verse 4. It says to take heed and be quiet. “It’s good that a man quietly waits.”
Friends, Take Time To Be Separated From All Of Your Friends, All Your Duties And Cares, And Even Your Joys. Take Time To Be Still And Quiet Before God.
It’s when we look to the Lord and we wait for the God of our salvation that God will hear us and answer us in the most perfect and loving way.
Micah 7:7.
"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me."
LET’S PRAY TOGETHER
Loving Father, I pray that You would teach me how to prayerfully and patiently wait on You, and to come to a true understanding of what it really means to wait on the Lord. Help us to be still before you, to listen to Your voice through Your Word and to abide in You.
Keep us from fretting and worry, but rather let us learn more of You.
Draw us closer to Yourself and keep us from presumptuous thoughts, but rather teach us humility of heart, knowing that Your desire for all Your children is that we do justly, love mercy and walk humbly before You.
And in all things, I pray that as we learn to wait on You and go deeper into Your Word of truth, that in all things we would bring glory to Your name.
In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.
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