The Pressures of Purpose Part III-Defying Darkness

I woke up one February morning crying.  The warm tears flowed like blood from my bleeding soul.  The weight of hopelessness bore on my chest like a menacing paper weight on a feeble piece of paper.  I whimper, “My God where are You?…why are You so far?…why can’t I hear You?…” My pillow is stained with the blood of agony. A homicide has been committed–death has murdered my dreams.  Death has stolen my joy.  Death has stolen my energy.  Death has stolen my passion. I sigh, “God, where are You?” His reply, “….”

Fellow Dreamers, I spent much of the first half of 2008 hiding an illness.  An illness of darkness that began to manifest itself in my health, relationships, and dreams.  I had experienced a plague of darkness much like that described in Exodus 10:21, “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” Picture that for a moment–darkness that can be felt.  Imagine night falling on you and attaching itself to every inch of your body.  Imagine the agony that Spiderman felt when the alien venom symbiote parasitically adjoined to him. 

Have you ever felt such darkness?  Are you experiencing darkness right now?  What is this counter life form darkness?  Those are some questions I will address in today’s post in the series Pressures of Purpose: Part III-Defying Darkness.

Darkness is a simple concept; it is the absence of light.  However, when you experience darkness, simple is not a word you would use to describe how it feels, nor the process of how to escape it.  Let me be blunt; darkness is a byproduct Satan’s dominion over the systems of this world (Ephesians 6:12).  When you are infected by the system, through choice or God’s sovereignty, it is the ultimate challenge to your destiny.  If you endeavor to fulfill your purpose, you have to defy darkness. 

When God allows you to be infected with darkness, He does it for three reasons: to deliver, direct, and disseminate.

God sent the plague of darkness to deliver the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt.  There are offenses in your past that have plagued your mind, especially those from your developmental years.  Just as God has a plan for your life, Satan has a plan to delay and derail God’s plan.  In my darkness, I discovered offenses from both preadolescent and adolescent years that were causing bad fruit to be produced in my life.  It is amazing how the human coping mechanism creates a concept of normalcy that is delinquent.  However, when God shows you how your thinking has been contrary to His word,  it will rattle your faith.  Thank God for his faithfulness  to de-liver you.  God gives you new liver during this process because the old one is obsolete. Allow me explain further.

In the human body, the liver is the largest organ in the body. We cannot live 24 hours without our liver. Its primary function is to detoxify the blood stream.  Hence, when God de-livers you, He is in the process of detoxifying things in your blood stream.  There are generational curses and habits that He is destroying right now.  The price thereof is forgiveness.  You have to forgive offenders and yourself.  You will get angry.  You will want revenge.  Resist the temptation to take matters into your own hands and express those feelings to God, maybe a counselor, and move forward. 

Secondly, God will direct you.  He will specifically direct you to a wilderness.  Exodus 5:3 records, “Then they said, ‘The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.’” The wilderness does not sound like a fun place, but it is the training ground of all champions, Jesus being the ultimate example (I am working on a post to discuss Jesus wilderness experience).  The threefold purpose of the wilderness is to purify your heart, test and confirm your identity, and to prepare anointing for the Promised Land.  The key is the heart.  When your liver is not working properly, toxins get into your blood stream.  Within 30 minutes, your heart is exposed to those toxins.  Hence, your heart is infected with darkness.  Your passions then become polluted.  Eventually, you are led astray.  Note Proverbs 4:23, ”Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”  That is why God must first de-liver you, then direct you to the wilderness to purify your heart.  

Thirdly, God will disseminate anointing in and through your life.  When we destroy an illness in our body, antibodies are released.  Likewise, when God has delivered you and processed you in the wilderness, an anointing to fight for your dream like never before is released.  You will have a renewed passion for living and have discovered new passions and giftings.  Further, you will have a healing power (antibodies) to help others whom have experienced darkness.  This is the most fulfilling part of this process.  Truly it is better to give than receive.

In closing, some of you may be experiencing a seemingly unbearable plague of darkness right now.  It maybe due to hurt from a damaging childhood experience, a failed business, or the death of a relationship.  Whatever your situation, I implore you to take your focus off of yourself just for a moment. Think about the people whom experienced very similar tragedies as yourself and much worse.  For those whom been raped, sexually or domestically abused, think about the kids, spouses who will experience the same horror as you.  I know it hurts.  I know you’ve been victimized.  I know the pain is unspeakable.  As Jesus Christ lives, I personally know there is a balm in our Lord and Savior to heal the darkness.  Not only your darkness, but the darkness that plagues others.  I leave you with a very personal story: By the time I was 7 years old, I had been sexually abused and had full blown addiction to pornography. This plague of darkness followed me until I was 23 years old, when God delivered me from pornography addiction and strengthened me to be able to deal with the sexual abuse.  In March of 2006, I delivered my first sermon entitled, “Healing from the Deaf and Mute Spirit.” When I shared this testimony to an audience of teenagers and adult ministers, the silence over the room could be felt.  As I closed and opened the altar for prayer, I shrunk in the presence of God as He penetrated the cumulus clouds of darkness with His light of love and healing. One by one youth came to the altar in tears crying out to God.  Before long, most of the 100 or so youth had come to the altar for deliverance.  Even a middle aged man came to me in tears, embraced me, and cried out, “It happened to me to!” I humbly whispered a quick prayer over him.  That night was the culmination of defying darkness.  God diseminated His love and healing through me.  He wants to do the same with you.   

Defy the darkness and fight on for your dream.

 

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• To Hell and Back Part II: The Hell Experience
• The King Follet[t] Obituary
• Praying Earnestly Manuscript
• Quibbling Over Doctrine