Betrayal Barrier
This is the heartbeat of this ministry.
Ron read article about this on Sat before accident. He was going through a time when he felt like God had abandoned him, but he chose not to be one of the more than 90% that are hurt. God burned into his heart by repeating 3 times (Pam, SS class, Pastor). 1 week later it was tested when the accident happened, wife died, son went into coma, and other son had major foot surgery. Where was God?
God used this concept to help others while Ron was going through grief. He has used it many times since to help others to find healing when they feel like God has abandoned them.
We must know that God will not leave us or abandon us. This is a solid truth that we can stand on during the hard times. It is the basis for our faith and trust in Him.
Heb 13:5b “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NKJV)
“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” (NASB)
Let’s look at Ex 5:1-9, 20-21 Moses goes to Pharaoh asking to let His people go, Pharaoh says no because they are lazy and makes it harder-make bricks without straw. Leaders of Israel come to Moses and complain.
Ex 5:22-23 Moses complains to God--you said you would deliver us and you have not done it. Put yourself in Moses’ place--you feel like God stuck you on a limb and you and dangling, barely hanging on, expecting to fall any moment. God did not come through--He abandoned you at the worst time! O course we know the rest of the story, God did not abandon him, but how did Moses feel? He felt like God abandoned him. Now he has a choice, trust God or not trust Him.
Ex6:1-5 God responds-I will do what I said I would do! Then he says, I will reveal myself to you in a way no one has ever known me before. God wanted Moses to see there was more to Him than Moses knew about God. Moses did not know everything about God or the situation, so he had to trust God. When we think we know everything about God or our situation, we don’t need God--we don’t need to trust Him.
God says “Trust me! My Word is true, you can believe it even in the dark times of your life.”
When we feel like God has abandoned us, “the betrayal barrier” can stop us from believing those words (e.g. Heb 13:5). Because of the hurt, anger, guilt, bitterness, rejection or other feelings we will resist God and His Word.
We will question Him--Where are you God? I thought you loved me? Why are you allowing this to happen to me? Why did my loved one die? Why did I get divorced from my husband? Why didn’t I get the promotion I deserved? Why did . . . happen? We will have a broken heart--a bruised heart, a crushed heart. Our grief will get in the way of our trusting God.
Satan delights in this, because it causes us to become isolated from the Body of Christ. We become one of the more than 90% who are hurt because we feel like God has abandoned us. (this means that 9 out 100 Christians are whole)
Did Moses do this? Look at Ex 6:9 Moses spoke “thus” to the sons of Israel. What is “thus?” It is what God said. Did He allow His not understanding God or the situation to stop him from trusting God? No! Heb 11 counts him in the hall of fame of faith. Did he doubt God would do what He said He would do? Maybe, but he trusted God anyway. That is faith!
Let’s talk about how to destroy “the betrayal barrier.” We believe there are two agents of healing: God’s word and His people.
We must have the Word of God deeply planted in our hearts when the storms of life come blowing upon us. But sometimes, especially when we are in grief, that does not seem to be enough. Why? Because the broken-hearted are in pain! That pain is so intense it can seem to overshadow the truths we know in our heart. That is why God gave us each other! That is why we need the Body of Christ. When one is weak, the other can be strong.
Satan wants to isolate us, so we do not have the strength to believe God because of the circumstances. Then we get hurt, because we feel like God has abandoned us.
As we come alongside a hurting brother or sister, we strengthen them and can encourage them to trust God in spite of how it may seem--that God has not abandoned them. We can stand with them against the storms of life and they know they are not alone in this battle. Together we can have the strength to destroy “the betrayal barrier” in a person’s life. As we work together in community, we can see healing come to the broken-hearted one as God’s Word begins to work in their life. We can reverse the betrayal barrier to less than 90% are hurt!
You may say--but I had someone help me once and then I went back to the same old feelings of hurt. That is because as we said there is a process of healing.
Another way to look at the betrayal barrier is to see the process at work. When we are “stuck” because of “the betrayal barrier” is is because our Feelings and Emotions are the dominant force (i.e. our Soul). We are hurt and all we feel is the pain of our broken heart. Others may come to us with Hope by God’s Word, but we can’t break through “the betrayal barrier” because of the pain. We shut off the Holy Spirit from being able to do His work in us, we may try to reach God out of “duty” or “habit” (read the Bible, pray, go to church), but we are not walking in a genuine living relationship with God. We have a weak faith and cannot believe God cares for us--after all He abandoned us. We isolate ourselves from the Body of Christ because all they want to do is talk about God’s goodness, healing, love, etc. We have no life for ourselves and none to give out to others who are hurting.
Satan is happy with this, and will continue to make us dwell on our pain and hurt. He will tell us the Body of Christ doesn’t love you (they’re all a bunch of hypocrites) and God does not love you (He abandoned you).
But thank God, His Word will not return void. It is a powerful weapon and can be used to fight the enemy. As we allow the process to continue in our life, doing the grief work, attending a support group, learning to trust God in spite of the circumstances. It begins to change us.
Our feelings and emotions begin to yield to the faith of our spirit. We use the Word of God as a weapon against the enemy and we break down “the betrayal barrier.” We reestablish communication with the Father who loves us. We allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts by activating His Word in us. We begin to fellowship with the Body of Christ and we start to see hope once again.
We hurt, we heal, then we are able to help others. This is God’s plan for us. When God comforts us in our trials, He does it so we can then comfort others in theirs. If He had not brought us through these trials successfully, then we could not stand up here and share any comfort with you. But, because we have been comforted (healed) by God, we can now share His comfort (healing) with you. If God did it for us, He will and can do it for you!