I had the privilege of hearing one of the best Easter sermons I’ve heard. Like… ever. It was a perfect combination of resurrection realities and hope for a new beginning.
Pastors Tyrone and Amy Rinta of Rivers Church in Phoenix, AZ have been friends of ours for several years now. One of the things I love about their ministry is they place equal weight on emotional maturity and spiritual maturity, or God’s responsibility and personal responsibility. Per Peter Scazzero, the pioneer for emotional health in the church, “Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable. It is not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.” And per my longtime family counselor, the lack of focus on self-awareness and emotional IQ has rendered pastors some of the most emotionally (and thereby spiritually) immature people on the planet. And I believe he is one-hundred percent correct. I certainly spent the bulk of my ministry life with a low emotional IQ and caused a lot of pain along the way.
After the Easter message, Tyrone and Amy prayed for me. It was so timely and fitting, given that I was taking vigorous notes throughout the entire sermon. Thoughts about Jesus suffering and overcoming a Roman crucifixion, showing us what a human filled with the Holy Spirit is capable of doing if they’ll use the authority of the Kingdom of Heaven. And thoughts about Jesus reconnecting Peter to his purpose even after he denied Christ three times.
What most of us miss about the power behind Peter’s purpose is that each of the disciples knew what they were signing up for. They understood the cost and chose to face a marytr’s death if it meant ushering in a new Kingdom power. Jesus found Peter returning to his life before the call, fishing day in and day out while his purpose went unfulfilled. I can identify with Peter. Over and over again in the face of fear and loss, I’ve denied my calling. And like Peter, I consistently experience Jesus telling me to get back up rather than condemning my failure.
Pastor Tyrone prayed that a spirit of heaviness be lifted from me. I felt that one. Heaviness like I’ve only experienced once before crept in over the last almost two months. I’m grieving the sudden, unexpected loss of one of my best friends of nearly twenty-five years, coupled with the shock of becoming the guardian of her one-year-old daughter after raising my first two daughters who are now 22 and 20 years old! While children are a gift from the Lord versus a mere responsibility, I would be lying if I said I’m not feeling the temptation to quit my calling as the reality of diapers and toddler tantrums sets in.
Yet oddly enough, the reality that our time is short and Jesus is coming for His bride stirs at a deeper level inside me than ever before. Rimmel and I have had hours of conversation over these events, trying to sort out the shock and find the path forward.
But the most telling conversation we’ve had went like this:
Me: “I don’t understand any of this, but one thing I know for certain is that all of this makes me want to do one thing and one thing only – plant a church.”
Rimmel: “THAT’S what I’ve been waiting to hear!”
God: “Do all that [is] in your heart; turn for yourself; behold, I [am] with you, as your own heart.” 1 Samuel 14:7
When God puts desires in your heart, they are His desires too. In other words, you share a heart with Him.
And if becoming parents to a one-year-old after 24-1/2 years of marriage makes you want to spread the gospel even more in the second half of your life, then you’re probably called to spread the gospel even more in the second half of your life. ;)
I decided to study the spirit of heaviness further. Leave it to Christian blogs to offer the worst advice on the planet.
The phrase comes from the book of Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” Isaiah 61:1-3
Every blog out there gave a prescription for the spirit of heaviness—dead works. Pray more, sing more worship songs, attend more church, make more Christian friends, fast more, be more grateful, be more humble, bind the devil, scream at the devil, give more money… on and on it goes. While none of these are wrong in and of themselves (although screaming at the devil is a waste of energy), they become dead works when done for the express purpose of getting God to do something He already did through Jesus. Jesus already gave us a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness. And the garment of praise isn’t something we have to do in order to be released of heaviness. Praising God is not the prescription of what to do in this verse. The garment of praise is a gift we received at the time of salvation.
A garment is a wrap or mantle. It signifies purpose and authority. Praise comes from the Hebrew root word halal and can mean renown, fame, or glory. In this context, it is a mantle of renown, a splendid garment, or a garment of remembrance.
To break free from a spirit of heaviness is to remember who you are and the authority you have.
Remember…
· You have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. Everything you need to complete your mission and fill your purpose is already here.
· Every promise God ever made to anyone is yes and amen for you because of Jesus.
· All things can work together for a victorious outcome if you’ll allow the Kingdom of Heaven to be your reality.
· You can always be the head. You don’t have to be the tail.
· You can always be above. You don’t ever have to be beneath.
· God is always FOR you. He is NEVER against you.
· You are saved, healed, delivered, prospered, protected, anointed, set apart, holy, and righteous.
· This isn’t God testing you. He tested Jesus for you.
· Jesus won the victory and gave you the keys to the same authority over death and decay that He has.
A spirit of heaviness comes when the problem overwhelms us to the point of despair so we feel like giving up, or we have convinced ourselves there is no path forward. Heaviness comes with the belief that in light of the current circumstances we can’t or won’t get what we want or need out of life.
Heaviness is lifted when we trade our reality for the reality of the cross. Heaviness is lifted when we trade the yoke of despair for the light and easy burden of our authority over circumstances.
Heaviness is never lifted by becoming more for God. It is only lifted by REMEMBERING who you are already are in Jesus.
If heaviness has taken over, the last thing you need anyone to say to you is praise more, sing more, pray more, have more faith… AKA religion.
Because sometimes heaviness is so heavy you can’t do any of those things. And how can you offer a sacrifice of praise when life has literally knocked the breath out of you and there is nothing left to sacrifice?
The Good News of the gospel is this: you do not have to do more or sacrifice more or become more. You just need to remember, to call to mind who and Whose you already are.
