I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Another's Burden

"As we focus our energies on lifting the burdens of others, something miraculous happens. Our own burdens diminish. We become happier. There is more substance to our lives." David S. Baxter - Oct.



                    

Gen. Conf 2006
Song by: Moleni Brothers Album: The Gathering Another's Burden Lord I will follow thee Give all my life to thee I would do for you All that you ask and more Give me strength And help me to be strength To those in need to bear Anothers burden like you did for me Chorus Yes I am willing to mourn with those that Mourn comfort those who stand in need of comfort Bear anothers burden that they may be light Oh lord help me keep you in my life 2nd verse The road will get better along the way But help me to trust in thee and never go astray That I may always be a strength to those in need Only the beginning is near, let them know that you are Always there to guide them back to thee Where forever one day we will be Chorus

We speak of Christ. We rejoice in Christ.

We speak of Christ. We rejoice in Christ.

My friend, Jeremy, created this blog so we could rejoice in Christ. I have been thinking of what I might say. I wanted to bear powerful testimony. Something on the order of “I know that my Redeemer lives.” Alas, words fail me. The words I would like to have, anyway.

He is my Redeemer. He is my friend. He is my salvation. A thought came to me. My small attempt at rejoicing in Christ.

I had a dream a long time ago. It was over twenty years ago – before I was ever married. In this dream, one of my brothers (Rodell) and I were traveling. We stopped at a small town. He left. I stayed a while.

This town had one major enemy. This enemy (a man) would occasionally show up near town. The rules were that when the alarm sounded, everyone was to run outside of town and hide – in the grass, in the bushes, behind rocks, anywhere. If the enemy came anywhere near you, even if he didn't see you, the rule was that you should stand up quickly, say, “Here I am,” and let him kill you. I thought that was a stupid rule.

One day, the enemy came and we all hightailed it out of there. I was hiding in some grass, squatting down with my hands on the ground to support me. I saw the enemy's feet walk nearby, stop as he looked around, then he passed on. I wasn't about to jump up and shout, “Here I am.”

Instead, I looked around and picked up a brown stone that was elongated. In fact, it looked like a large potato. I stood up and threw it at the man. It hit him in the back and killed him.

The mayor was furious. I wasn't supposed to vanquish the enemy. I was supposed to give in to him. Talk about ungrateful.

Two or three years ago, during my daily study time, I thought about that dream. I decided I wanted to pursue it in meditation, to see if it meant what I had thought. (I had thought the enemy represented the devil.)

I sat back and began to meditate. I brought him clearly to my mind, but I wasn't brave enough to throw the stone. It wasn't until the second or third meditation that I did. I moved my arm as if actually throwing one, to help make the visualization more real. The results were not at all what I had expected. He didn't fall down dead at all.

As soon as the stone hit his back, he turned around and stared at me. His eyes were incredible. They drew me in. In his eyes, I saw every sin I had ever committed, every sin I was tempted to commit, and every sin he wanted me to commit that I either had not thought of or was not tempted with at the moment. The message was, “You want to do these things. These things will heal you. They will fill the void of never having had a father. They will make everything better.” And I do mean “everything”. Every heartache. Every pain. I was sinking into his power, wanting to sin, wanting to do everything his eyes told me I wanted to do.

At the same time, in the perimeters – or at the cellular level, I was becoming alarmed and concerned. I was powerless to pull away. I was powerless to move my mind and desires elsewhere. But these little cells, these little somethings that are a part of me cried out for help. They begged for help.

The man was in front of me. Jesus appeared to my right, about as far away from me as the man was. Together, we made a triangle. Jesus had a bow. He had arrows in a holder on his back. He fitted an arrow to the bow, and shot the man dead. The man had never known Jesus was there. He was concentrating all of his power on me. Another strange thing is that the arrow went into his back (where the stone had hit him in the original dream), yet his side was facing Jesus. All he had to do was turn his head ever so slightly, and he would have seen Jesus.

Then I was able to come out of the meditation.

I've thought about that dream-meditation several times. Jesus rescued me. At first, I thought I was pretty stupid to think I could take on this enemy by myself, but today it occurs to me that the dream was accurate. I did vanquish the enemy. I vanquished him through my faith on Jesus Christ.

The power of the enemy was incredible. He used my own emotional wounds to draw me in. I can't describe the feeling, the longing to be healed, to be safe. He promised this. Healing, safety, fulfillment. They were all lies. He really sought my destruction.

But Jesus was there. All I had to do was want to be saved, with my whole soul. At least the part of the soul that was not held captive.

And I suppose that's the message I want to get across. If we want Jesus to rescue us, if we want that with our whole soul (even if that “whole soul” isn't much, because of our wounds), He will come. He will help us. He will vanquish the enemy of our soul.

Toni