Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive
Chapter 8
The Four Streams: Deep Restoration
Key Verse: He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. -- Psalm 147.3
Pages 128-129 recount Lucy’s healing of “Reepicheep” the mouse in C.S. Lewis Prince Caspian.
A HOUSE DIVIDED
Yes, we have all been wounded in this battle. And we will be wounded again. But something deeper has happened to us than mere wounds. Eldredge then recounts how in various activities we say that we want to move ahead, and at the same time we hesitate. Then he offers this quote: Part of me says, Wow! Maybe God really is going to come through for me. Another voice rises up and says, You are on your own.
Don’t you sometimes feel like a house divided? (Page 129)
Eldredge goes on to point out that we all have phobias, quirks, questions, compulsions and asks, “Did you ever wonder why?
I think we’ve just assumed all that stuff is our battle with “the flesh.” And yes, there is a civil war waged between the new heart and the old nature. Romans 7-8 describes it quite well. Part of me doesn’t want to love my neighbor—not when his son just backed his car into my Jeep and smashed it up. I want to take the little brat to court. Part of me knows that prayer is essential; and other part of me would rather turn on the TV and check out. And that whole bit about being long-suffering—no way. Part of me wants to just get drunk. And that is the part I must crucify daily, give no ground to, make no alliance with. It’s not the true me. (Rom. 7:22) It’s my battle with the flesh. We all know that battle well. But that is not what I’m wanting to explore here.
No, there’s something else we are describing when we say, “Well part of me wants to and part of me doesn’t.” It’s more than a figure of speech. We might not know it, but something really significant is being revealed in those remarks. These are the places that we cannot seem to get beyond. Everything is going along just fine, and then—boom. Something suddenly brings you to tears or makes you furious, depressed, or anxious, and you cannot say why. I’ll tell you why.
We are not wholehearted. (Pg. 130)
???—How do you respond to Eldredge’s summary of what our life is like much of the time, and his conclusions that we are not wholehearted???
BROKENHEARTED
Eldredge recounts the story of a woman who could not stop collecting toy puppies. As a child her father had torn the head of her toy puppy in a fit of rage. The action shattered her security and broke her heart. He then tells us that when Isaiah said the Messiah would heal the brokenhearted he was not speaking poetically, but literally. This is the way he puts it, “God is speaking literally here. He says, “Your heart is now in many pieces. I want to heal it.”
The heart can be broken—literally. Just like a branch or a statue or a bone. Can you name any precious thing that can’t? Certainly we’ve seen that the mind can be broken—or what are all those mental institutions for? Most of the wandering, muttering “homeless” people pushing a shopping cart along have a broken mind. The will can be broken too. Have you seen photos of concentration camp prisoners? Their eyes are cast down; something in them is defeated. They will do whatever they are told. But somehow we have overlooked the fact that this treasure called the heart can also be broken, has been broken, and now lies in pieces down under the surface. When it comes to “habits” that we cannot quit or patterns we cannot stop, anger that flies out of nowhere, fears we cannot overcome or weaknesses we hate to admit—much of what troubles us comes out of the broken places in our hearts crying out for relief….Surely, there are things you do that you cannot provide a reasonable explanation for. Those of you unable to resist a jelly donut—certainly, that is a hunger for more than sweets. Love, perhaps? Comfort? The drive that keeps you late at the office—what is it you are hoping for? Approval? For someone to finally say, “We’re so very proud of you”? (Pages 131-133)
???—What has broken your heart in your lifetime???
Yet another indication of a house divided is “on again, off again” personality. One day you are inspired by Christ, captured for his purposes; the next day, you are completely driven by the world. Sure—we all have bad days. Lord knows, PMS and traffic jams can bring on some dramatic changes. But I’m talking about a pattern that is repeated again and again.
I know a man just like that; he’s so hard to read, you never know what you’re going to get. He’ll be completely committed following Christ one moment, and the next he’s watching his stocks and totally absorbed in his business. It’s not bad to keep and eye on things; but being so totally absorbed to the point that everything else—everyone else—suffers. That’s not so good. It’s like somebody threw a switch inside him. Not a Dr. Jekyll—Mr. Hyde, just a man so completely different depending on what part of his heart he’s living out of. He’s not wholehearted.
It doesn’t take a major assault like sexual abuse to create a broken heart, by the way. This is so important to understand, for many good people assume they haven’t any real brokenness because they haven’t endured the horrors they read about in the paper on watch on TV. Depending on age or circumstances, it can be an embarrassing moment like stuttering in front of the class or hearing a harsh word from your mother. The bottom line is, Jesus speaks as though we are all the brokenhearted. We would do well to trust his perspective on this. (Pages 133-134)
???—Do you ever experience “on again, off again” personality when it comes to the life of faith???
???—How do you respond to Eldredge’s contention that it doesn’t take a major assault to produce a broken heart?
THE STREAM OF HEALING OR DEEP RESTORATION
Key Scripture: For this people has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. (Matt 13:15)
“And I would heal them.” That’s a different offer from: “And I would forgive them.” It’s a different offer from: “And I would give them a place in heaven.” NO Jesus is offering healing to us. Look at what he does to people who are broken. How does he handle them? The blind are able to see like a hawk. The deaf are able to hear a pin drop. The lame do hurdles. The corroding skin of the leper Is cleansed and made new. The woman with the issue of blood stops hemorrhaging. The paralyzed servant hops out of bed. They are, every last one of them. Healed. Now follow this closely: everything Jesus did was to illustrate what he was trying to say. Here—look at this—this is what I’m offering to do for you. Not just for your body, but more important, for your soul. I can heal your heart. I can restore your soul.
Next, Eldredge records the 23rd Psalm, and writes: For some reason, this has been lost in much of the recent offering of Christianity. Perhaps it has been our pride, which has kept us from admitting that we are broken. Lord knows, I’ve done that for years—probably am still doing it now. Perhaps it is our fear of getting our hopes up; it seems to good to be true. Perhaps it’s been the almost total focus on sin and the Cross. But the Scripture is abundant and clear: Christ came not only to pardon us, but also to heal us. He wants the glory restored. So, put the book down for just a moment, and let that sink in: Jesus can, and wants to, heal your heart. What does that rouse in you? Is it hope? Is it cynicism? Is it “I tried that—it doesn’t work”? (Pages 135-136)
???—What do you make of Eldredge’s contention that Jesus doesn’t only want to forgive us or give us a place in heaven but to HEAL us?
Eldredge recounts a situation where he woke in fear, but didn’t realize what it was that caused it. He was afraid he was going to “blow it—badly,” that he was about to make a mess of things. Finally he asked, “Jesus what is this all about?” When have you felt like this before? Eldredge recounted two times in his life when he felt that way. The first, when he was fifteen and was arrested for robbing a house. The second was when he went with his girlfriend so she could have an abortion. As these events came back to him, Eldredge invited Jesus in: Yes, Lord, thank you for bringing this back. Come in and meet me here; speak to me here. He writes, “I asked his forgiveness for my part in the burglary and in the abortion. I asked him to come and heal those wounds and bring what was true about my heart to my heart. And he did; he counseled me deeply. But that wasn’t the end of it. Several weeks later the fear came back. A month after that it came again. There was something broken in me, something that allowed the fear to keep returning, no matter how many comforting things Christ said. I needed a different stream. (Pages 136-137)
???—Do you have anything in your life right now that “keeps coming back” even though you’ve asked for forgiveness and received counsel from Jesus thrugh the Holy Spirit???
A PERSONAL HEALING
On pages 137-140 Eldredge recounts the incident when the “healing” of his heart began. It was during a wilderness outing, and at the end of the day, he was depressed because he hadn’t been able to make it through a certain pass. In that moment his “younger self” had a conversation with Jesus, in which Jesus offered to heal the broken places, but the younger self wasn’t willing unless John the adult would stop pushing forward, and pushing the younger part of his heart away. In the end, John “agreed” to stop pushing, pressing, and Jesus healed his heart. He was filled with great joy. He concludes by writing, “It was but one event in an amazing journey that began several years ago when I prayed this simple but earnest prayer: Jesus, I want my whole heart back.
???—Have you ever experienced such a time of healing, or such a moment of truth with yourself???
TOWARD RESTORATION
This section is as close as Eldredge comes to a “prescription” for HOW to have one’s heart healed. He recounts words fro Leanne Payne in the book The Healing Presence, and then several Scriptures, and threads the words of invitation to Jesus to heal us throughout the rest of the section. Here are the words of the prayer:
Jesus, I come into your presence now, and I ask you to surround me. come under your authority and your claim on my life. I give myself to you—body, soul, and spirit. I give my heart to you, in every way—including the broken places in me. I declare your authority over my heart, for you made my heart and you have redeemed my heart.
Jesus, I invite you into this broken place within me(this wound, this memory) I give you total access to my heart. Come, Lord, shine your light here. Reveal to me all that is going on here. What is this about, Jesus? Come and show me, meet me here, in this place.
Jesus, come and lead me in healing this brokenness in my heart. Speak to me here, Lord. What are you saying to me? Give me ears to hear and eyes to see what you are revealing. Let no other voice speak but you, my Lord Jesus, and you alone.
Jesus, forgive me for the ways I’ve mishandled my brokenness. You alone make me dwell in safety. Forgive me for all my self-protection and self-redemption, and for all my false comforters. (You’ll want to renounce specific sins you are aware of here.) Cleanse my heart of every sin by your shed blood.
I now break every agreement I have made with Satan and his lies. (Get specific here. What have you believed, bout into?) I renounce any claim I have given to my Enemy, and in the name of Jesus I command him to flee.
Jesus, come now and do as you have promised to do—heal my broken heart and set me free. (Listen here for what Jesus is saying.) Bring this place into your love and healing, bring this place home. I welcome your healing, and I welcome this part of my heart home. Come, bind me up and make me whole.
(Pages 140-144)
???—How do you respond to Eldredge’s “formula” for restoration???
CARRY ON THE JOURNEY
“Healing prayer,” says Payne, “is not the ‘instant fix,’ nor the bypassing of slow and steady growth. It is that which clears the path and makes such progress possible.” Brokenness keeps so many people from walking the path that God has for them. “Make straight paths for you feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put pout of joint, but rather be healed.” (Heb. 12:13 NASB) As long as we have these unhealed places within us, these rifts in the soul, we will find it next to impossible to live in freedom and victory. No matter how much we demand of ourselves, applying discipline and doctrine, it will not work. It has not worked. Those places keep undermining us at crucial moments, cutting us off at the knees. And our Enemy knows them well and uses them against us with disabling effect…We desperately need the stream of Healing, so that we may go on to walk this journey with Christ.
???—What is your overall response to the “stream” of healing or deep restoration???