Can I whisper
something in your ear? It’s not really a
secret but it feels like one of those holy things that can only be spoken of in
hushed tones inside quiet sanctuaries. Can this be our sanctuary today?
The invitation
was for those who need healing. But my wounds aren’t physical. The pain isn’t
localized to any place you can lay your hands on. It’s deep. Hidden. Several
minutes passed before I convinced myself the invitation was also meant for me.
I stepped into the aisle telling myself, “Just get up there. He will do the
rest.”
Then a woman
whose face I didn’t know was standing in front of me, asking how she could
pray.
“My heart. Pray
for my heart,” was all I could think to say.
“Physical or
emotional?” She asked.
“Emotional…” and
I stammered, trying to say more but coming up empty.
So she started
to pray as you would expect someone to pray for a stranger with unspoken
requests. But then she paused. And my spirit began groaning with utterings too
deep for words – quietly, in the pattern I am used to when I don’t know how to
pray. She listened, and took my head in her hands. Like a mother, her forehead
touched mine, crooning sounds of sympathy.
And then she began to pray with understanding.
{Here is where I
want to whisper} Do you catch my meaning?
She prayed specifically – as though
I’d poured out my heart with her for a lifetime. This stranger prayed like she
knew me, reading my heart open. She heard
and understood my groanings. My
spirit laid me bare, though I did not know it.
In the arms of
this woman, I broke. In awe that my Heavenly Father sees me. He hears my heart
and whispers my secrets to strangers when I am incapable. The wonder of holy
moments such as these steals my breath. When I feel most forgotten and lost –
or even when I don’t feel at all – He invades my consciousness, unmistakably
informing me that I am seen, heard, understood, and extravagantly loved. He provides guidance and instruction, lighting
my path and confirming the direction I am to go. He assures me that I am right
where I belong in His hands.
Let there be no mistake. He still works miracles.
