Nancy recommends that we “Get into the Word” read a few favorite passages, so that “His soothing truth could go back into the hidden chambers where the lies have been.” Then Nancy would praise God “for being my God and for doing all these things for me.”
Nancy referred to several relevant Scriptures:
Luke 11:24-26 speaks to cleaning/ clearing out our hidden places and not filling the resulting vacuum with something else such as the Word. This leaves one vulnerable to replaying old scripts which can increase their negative impact.
Paul offers great assurance both in Hebrews 10:22, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” and Philippians 3:14, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
The above cleaning/clearing out of the hidden places and filling them with the Word is easier said than done. I find it all too often these hidden places are filled with deep-seated hurts, some decades old, which resurface.
As a six-year-old I had to climb out of the deep valley of paralytic polio. I, like most polio survivors, felt a responsibility to act and look normal. I had excellent follow-up care and a number of corrective surgeries to my hand and arm, however, polio just was not a subject discussed. So I buried it in those secret chambers.
Polio is an interesting disease in that it causes damage to the brainstem which may or may not be the reason most polio survivors are Type A personalities. A cruel twist of fate is that after decades of recovery many polio survivors develop post-polio syndrome. Even muscles that did not seem to be effected during the initial onset actually were damaged. Joint pain, weakening muscles and sleeping difficulties often get worse with each year. The stress typical of a Type A personality exasperates these conditions. Family members don’t seem to have a clue as to what happening and no one seems to want to acknowledge it.
So decades later I’m cleaning out those hidden chambers and giving it to God. I rest in the sure knowledge that I am right with God. Immersing myself in the Bible helps to fill these hidden chambers.
Interestingly enough the more engrossed I am in my studies the more I’m aware that other than my church family most friends and family have little to no interest in a study of the Bible. So just as polio wasn’t discussed, biblical truth seldom is. As their argument goes, being a good person is all-important and all roads lead to God. Rather than burying this rejection of Truth in my hidden chambers, I have given my family and friends over to God. To God goes the glory.
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