You know the old taunt, “if you had enough faith, you could jump off this cliff.”
There have been a number of significant spiritual events during the last week that I skip in order to add this short post.
This morning, while praying earnestly, I was told quite clearly, “burn your garments.” I was shocked, and that is an understatement. In spite of being taught quite profoundly to quit procrastinating (see prior post), I responded by pondering, checking to see if I was being deceived, checking again, and checking yet again. When I asked why, the answer was simply, “the way the temple is used is an abomination.” I should have asked for more detail, but I was dumbfounded.
After about two hours, and checking again a fourth time, I gathered up all my garments and started a fire in the outdoor fireplace. There was no Abraham/Issac moment. In response to my asking for such, a voice said, “stop, it is enough.” I checked that one. I then prayed to have all the bad guys leave me alone. The garments burned slowly and strongly. So did my heart. Joy and I mostly watched the flames until the basket was empty. All kinds of metaphors came to mind: burning the bridge behind me, base jumping without a suit, walking into the darkness, etc.
Eventually Joy told me that it was probably her fault. I gave her one of those “say what” kind of looks. She confessed that she had been praying to know if certain things related to the temple were an abomination to the Lord. Nice. I’m not sure that I want her praying anymore….
I wonder where this is going to lead. One thing has already changed, I feel a singular kind of nakedness. I find myself continuously going to the Lord to beg for protection against the adversary and hoping against all hope that I have sufficient faith to obtain those earlier promises, which were always contingent on faith. I’ve never before felt a need for spiritual armor. I do now. I feel exposed. I feel vulnerable. If it drives me to the Lord, I suppose it is a good thing.