LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD

Matthew 8:22  "But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead"." 

The middle of this month brought memories, some sweet, some sad and some rather devastating to my spirit.  Only for a time, but nonetheless, it was there.  The fourth anniversary of my husband's death, six days later, the anniversary of his burial.  The sadness, the grief came over me for a while....then the overwhelming memory of how my Lord carried me, held me and strengthened me.  But while I was in this place, the Lord spoke to me and said "Let the dead bury the dead".  He began to talk to me about the place I was in and how He did not want me visiting that place again.  "Remember the joy" He said, but let the pain go, let the sadness go and to let my spirit forever be freed from the prison cell that the enemy would attempt again and again to lock me in.  For ever how short a period it may be, the Lord does not want us there. 

As He spoke to me almost two weeks ago about this, and I knew it was something He wanted me to share with you, I just could not write.  The Lord would not let it go.  He kept speaking those words, "Let the dead bury the dead" at different times of the day, interrupting my thoughts of other things to bring me back to these words, to what He had given me, to what I was to share.

We cannot serve the Lord while we are serving the past.  Our past, the things that happened, belong in the past.  Now, please, friends, do not misunderstand me.  In no terms is this to say you should not grieve the loss of a loved one.  This is a pain that comes to everyone on earth at times, and this grief is going to overwhelm us for a good while.  But grief of a loved one and living in the past with that grief is two different things.  To mourn the loss, to miss that loved one, to have thoughts of them is one of the ways we coupe with loss.  But I know I was going to places I did not need to go.  I was going into that hospital room, reliving those moments when I said to turn off the respirator, listening to those last grasps for air....this was not healthy.  It is not healthy for us, physically or spiritually.  And these are the things that the Lord, our God, wants us to run from.  Those memories, they are not the ones that give way to memories of the life shared that should be what we think of.  Let it go, give those  thoughts to the Lord, lay them at His feet and let Him restore your spirit with joy and peace.

When I woke this morning, the Lord once again speaking these words to me, and my determining to write today......the Lord gave me something more.  He said "Let the dead bury the dead"....and then He showed me sin, failures, disappointments.....He showed me hurts, anger, fear....He showed me divorce, He showed me lost friendships.....places where we carry guilt from our actions, from our words, from behavior patterns....things we have done, things that cannot be undone....but things He has taken from us, forgiven us for, washed us clean in His redeeming blood.....dead things that need to remain buried.  All these things that the enemy uses to throw at us with delight, these things that take us from our mind set on what the Lord has for us, and causes us to momentarily take our eyes off our Jesus.  It throws us off the path that is set before us, removes us from usefulness and weighs us down.  Let us, dear friends, refrain from going back to those things of our past mistakes, of those words spoken by us or to us in anger, those things that tend to redress us in the old man's clothes.   When the enemy comes, sly dog, cloaked in what may appear to be concern, inviting us into his pity party, refuse the invitation with joyful sounds of "By His stripes" and "Washed in the Blood".  Begin to praise our Lord, sing to Him songs of love and worship....trust me, you will begin to be lifted up from that pit and satan will not stay around to hear the end of the song.  Remember Whose you are.....and What you are.....you are God's beloved.....a child of the King.

Father, I pray that these words reflect the spirit of the message You gave to me.  I ask that they reach the eyes of those You intend them to and that they, as I, will leave the grave, and rise up to You, rejoicing in the Light You give, and serve You with all their hearts.  In Your strength I walk, in Your Name I pray.


PatsPennings
02-24-13