TO GO FORWARD WE MUST GO BACK
We have worked with many individuals and couples over the past 12 years, and our main objective has always been to help each person intimately know the heart of God the Father through emotional and spiritual healing. When we truly experience beyond our mental understanding the nature of His heart—for us and for others—healing always follow. But how do we find this place in His heart for us? Like the prodigal in Luke, Chapter 15, we must come to a place of “rest” in the Father’s house. Each one of us is unique to God and thus we each have a unique healing journey to travel. But, if we truly desire to “come home to our Father’s house,” we must be willing to “journey to our own house” (where we grew up). Often, it is here where the Lord reveals how we were shaped by things that happened to us that should not have happened, as well as those things that should have happened but did not. Because of these “acts of commission and omission,” the “path” we ultimately take in life can be significantly affected. It is on this journey home that He not only shows us the things in our lives that are consistent with His perfect plan, but also heals us from the things that were not. It is from this place that He allows us to find healing of our own hearts in order to find His.
TWO SETS OF “TRACKS”
One way that sometimes helps to visualize this process is to think about a set of “railroad tracks” which symbolize the path that God intended for us from the point of being placed on this earth. This “set of tracks,” designed by God, represents His perfect will for our lives. However, as we start out our lives and journey from that beginning point, we often begin to establish and travel on a “different set of tracks,” which are not the ones He intended for us. Since we all have sinned and fallen short, no one has traveled on the “perfect set of tracks.” Yet, some of us end up on a set of tracks that actually run quite close to that original pair God intended. Others, however, begin very early to “veer off” from that original set of tracks, and at some point down the road have traveled so far away, that the original tracks are no longer in sight. How do we know that we’re no longer on the tracks God intended? It is generally by the “fruit” manifesting in our lives. We may be experiencing more frustration, anger, hatred, numbness or “lifelessness” than love; more depression or sadness than joy; more fear or anxiety than peace—not to mention a struggle with the other “fruit of the Spirit”—namely, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). It is at this point that many stop and ask, “How did I get to this place” and most importantly, “What can I do to change this?” It is often at this point that people come to us seeking help.
THE PROCESS OF “TRAVELING HOME” . . . MY PERSONAL JOURNEY
Quite a few years ago I (Jerry) came to a point when I realized that I needed to have my heart healed; however, I didn’t understand very much at the time about the reasons why. I only knew that as a result of surrendering my life to Father God through Jesus Christ a couple of years earlier, He had “taken me at my word” and began to set things right in me that were not. As I sought help from a godly Christian counselor at that time, I soon began to realize that I had ended up on a “set of tracks” that had taken me a considerable distance away from what God intended. As a result of this revelation, I had only one choice—to stop and turn around and allow God to take me back home—to the home where I grew up—and to find the healing I needed along the way. I would have preferred to just “jump the tracks” at that point and simply move on with God’s intended and better path, yet I knew that wasn’t going to be possible. God was asking me to trust Him and allow Him to show me the areas of wounding in my heart; forgive others and receive forgiveness for my own responses; and to allow Him to bring about true healing and restoration. It wasn’t an easy journey “home” and it took quite a while, but it was necessary. Not only did it allow me to find my own heart, but more importantly, it helped me to find the intimate, caring heart of Father God. It was a journey of brokenness and it was painful, but it was pain and sorrow that ultimately led to repentance (change) and “life” (see 2 Cor. 7:10). It was through this journey home that the Father revealed His heart, not only for my own healing and restoration, but also for the broken in the Body of Christ. It was this journey back to my “home” that allowed me to come home to the “Father’s House” and now help others to “come home” to Him as well.
WHAT PATH OR “TRACKS” ARE YOU ON? WHAT IS HIS INVITATION TO YOU?
When I started my journey back to my home of origin and the beginning of my life, I had to take a look at some “signs or billboards along that path,” that prior to that point I didn’t even know existed. I had to be willing to see whatever He wanted me to see and feel what He wanted me to feel. I needed to be willing to see the truth—the truth about what had happened to me and how I had responded to it—and to begin to travel more in line with the path or the “tracks” that He truly intended. Do you know where you are on this journey? Do you know and experience the Father’s heart for you and for others? Can you be at rest in His house? In His heart? Does the fruit of your life indicate that maybe you veered off on a different set of tracks than the one God intended from the beginning? If so, is He asking you to stop and bring those parts of your heart back to Him and allow Him to heal you and establish you on the right path—His path? Will you accept His invitation?
PLEASE PRAY WITH US . . .
Father, I desire to know and experience more of Your heart for me and for others. I also desire to give that love back to You and to those to whom You’ve called me. I can’t do that in my own strength. I can’t do that from a heart that was and remains wounded. Lord, I am willing to allow You to bring Your revelation to me about the condition of my heart. I am willing to see if I veered off the path You designed for me from the beginning. I am willing to travel home and find Your healing so that I can finally rest in Your house . . .in Your heart. Please hear my cry and take me at my word. I trust in You and Your grace for me in this journey. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
From the Father's Heart,
Jerry and Denise Basel