Shock Therapy
It is when someone speaks truth from their spirit to your spirit and it shocks your flesh so bad, that your mouth falls open and you find yourself speechless. Anger rises up and you begin slipping into defense mode. Right at that moment is decision time. You can get mad, make excuses and feel sorry for yourself or you can take the slap in the face, choose life and make a change. The choice is up to you, not God.
We live in a culture that wants everyone to feel good. No one really wants to be responsible for their actions or circumstances. They think that everything is in God’s hands and we have no control. If that is true, then why did God say, “Choose life and not death, blessing and not cursing?” Obviously YOU DO have a choice and your choices affect your quality of life.
My dad and mom are good at shock therapy. They’ll get right down in the mud with you, listen while you whine and complain over the phone, smile and hug you when you’re crying, but there’s one thing for sure…They’ll hit you upside the head with the Word of God so fast that you’ll have a choice to make. You can either get out of the mud with them when they go, or you can stay there by yourself and add offense to your piles of self pity and sorrow.
As the Body of Christ, we aren’t exactly doing each other a favor when we continually hash flesh issues and call it comfort. It’s more like “self therapy” and “self” remains alive when we nurture and baby it. You and I can’t afford that!
On the flip side, neither can we be afraid of a little mud on our pretty, white, righteous robes. People need believers to get in the pit, hug them, cry with them, hit them upside the head with the Word and then show them the way out.
Psalm 40:1-3 proves God Himself was willing to get muddy on your behalf. He desires to set your feet upon a rock (Jesus) and establish your goings and give you a new song in your mouth. However, when God gets in the pit with you, He doesn’t say, “You poor thing. You’re right, it’s o.k. to feel the way you do, you’ve been wronged.” The truth is, you probably are right! Maybe you have been wronged, maybe you have been dealt an unfair hand – but that’s no excuse to stay in a pit!
Isaiah 53:4, 5 says, "Surely Jesus bore our grief and carried our sorrows, yet WE did esteem him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, but He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and the need for our peace was upon him and with His stripes we are healed and made whole."
To live from your spirit stop excusing your flesh and appropriate the Word of God. Apply the Word to every situation so that you may possess the victory Jesus bought and paid for. Psalm 40:1-3 should be your testimony, not just a feel good scripture you read to ease the moment. The next time you find yourself in a miry pit, instead of choosing to wallow in your flesh, receive some shock therapy and get out of there! How do you do that? You choose life. You choose to believe God’s word over what you see, hear, feel, smell and touch. You may find yourself choosing the Word of God over what you feel every other minute, but you must start somewhere! Take a step of faith and trust God to meet you at each step. All things are possible with God. There is nothing (NO THING) that is too hard for Him!
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A New and Living Way
Shock therapy! That’s what I call it! It’s a slap in the face
instead of pat on the back. It is a picture of living in the flesh,
wallowing in the mud of life and feeling sorry for yourself.
Instead of patting you on the back and telling you how sorry they
are, your friend or loved one tells you, “Get tough! Suck it up!
What does the Word say about this?!”
A New and Living
Way