Heart Work, Heartstrings, and Hustle

June will begin our gathering together to bond as a group, fast and pray, and begin to tackle some heart issues that will help shape how we approach and minister in Uganda this October. 4 months away from now we will be stepping into a time of ministry that can be very intense, but also very joyful. Ugandans are very joyful, but their daily struggles reflect an oppressive spirit that we typically don’t think about here. Though we encounter the same type of oppressive spirit, it’s easier to recognize in a country that embraces the spirit realm as a part of life. 

Chains of oppression can hold us hostage in many ways and then use those chains to yank us around, tie us down, or just beat us up with them. The goal, first, is to remove the chains from our lives so that we can live more fully in the freedom Christ provided for us. The secondary benefit to removing the chains before we go so that we are not providing the enemy with anything it can use to interfere with or stop our ministry there. Ephesians 4:27 “and do not give the devil a foothold.” Another translation says not to give the enemy an opportunity to manipulate you.

Heart Work

What chains us down? The first thing the Lord highlighted to me was unforgiveness. It’s personal to what I’m working on in my life, but he also highlighted it as something that we all deal with. Unforgiveness is a door. While trauma is a door that will rip into our soul and hold the wound open for other things that will enslave us to enter in, unforgiveness is a door that we deliberately hold open ourselves to allow things like strife, bitterness, unrighteous anger, resentment, or hatred to enter in. Just to name a few of its “friends.” 

We’ve all seen the damaging effects that any one of those issues can cause in our lives. First, those issues focus us inward on ourselves making sure to place ourselves on the throne of our lives as ruler. Our needs and desires must be met first. Our rights must be respected preeminently. While there is a myriad of theological reasons that we do not want to be placing ourselves on the throne, self-centeredness also undermines the purpose of going to Uganda to serve the people there and minister to them. If we are following Christ’s example, He emptied Himself of what was due Him (honor, worship, devotion, divine rulership). Jesus came in the flesh to serve His fellow man, bringing healing to those around Him in spirit, soul, and body. He came and lived to set the example for us.

Unforgiveness brings bitterness and resentment into our heart. We might feel entitled to harbor the resentment and bitterness in unforgiveness, but that unforgiveness (and the things that come with it) do not hurt the one who wronged us.  It only hurts us. When we hang onto those things, we are poisoning our very soul with the offense, replaying it, and allowing it to seep deeply into our hardening hearts. We allow it to become a part of us, changing us in a negative way, planting seeds that root in as bitterness; producing a fruit that does not taste very good to those around us and is not a source of life. Ultimately, unforgiveness is the refusal to close the door on an offense and allowing the additional intruders to enter into our lives. These intruders, the Bible tells us in Matthew 18:34, are torturers that hold us in a prison. Matthew 6:12-13 tells us that forgiveness delivers us from the evil one.

So, Forgiveness opens the door to the prison we are in, is the key that unlocks the chains, and the seeds that produce life and freedom. Why do we need that and how do we plant that in our lives? The how is a decision that we make. We often elevate our feelings to a point that it becomes the reason for our decisions. Forgiveness is not a feeling and if we are waiting for that feeling to come to forgive…. It will never happen.

Why do we forgive? First and foremost, we forgive because we are forgiven. Not a single one of us can say that we have lived life never having hurt someone else, done something wrong, or made bad decisions that have created problems, issues, and offenses. Most of all, we have deeply hurt, offended, and wronged the very One who created us, loves us, and provides for us. Yet He still planned before the foundation of the world, came in the flesh, forgave us, and paid the debt that we never could. He lived in the flesh to give us an example to follow. Luke 23:24 TPT reads, “While they were nailing Jesus to the cross, he prayed over and over, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” The soldiers, after they crucified him, gambled over his clothing.” In the worst moments of His life, He forgave. I’m pretty sure His flesh did not feel like it. But He refused to give the devil any place in His life and perfectly lived out forgiveness. When you know that forgiveness, that weight of condemnation and judgment being lifted off your life (Luke 6:47), there should be a compelling desire to share that with others who experience the same weight. 

Compassion is another word that comes to mind. The compassion of Christ that compelled Him to forgive, to heal, and to impart life into every person He touched is something that I desire to pursue. That was something that I came away from our last Uganda trip with. The desire to have the compassion of Christ. The Father’s heart for people and to impart that love and life in whatever form He led. Forgiveness is that ultimate compassionate trait that Christ gave and expects me to give.  Just a note that forgiveness is not forgetting. Sometimes boundaries do need to be set for protection.

Forgiveness is giving up our right to demand payment for a debt someone owes us whether it is emotional, relational, or spiritual. Father God gave up His right to demand payment for the treason that mankind has been functioning in since the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and instead forgave. In fact, He paid that debt Himself. That’s grace. Mercy was forgiving us, grace was going the extra step and paying that debt owed Himself. Now He says to us, forgive because you have been forgiven.

Heart Strings

One thing that struck me earlier this year in on of Pastor Bobby’s sermons was about authentic relationships. Prayer brings the authentic into the relationship because you are bringing God into the relationship. I have found this to be true. In prayer with others, you are focusing on the One who brings life into relationships. Where there is life, things bloom, restoration occurs, and the Love of God flows in and through us.

As we begin to meet and pray together for this trip, we will begin to forge our hearts together in a way that will allow us to minister in unity, in greater strength, and exemplify the ecclesia in a bolder way. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” 

Hustle

Now for the hustle. 4 months away and we have funds to raise. Not only do we have travel funds to raise, but any additional funds will be used to assist the organizations and people on the ground in Uganda with the essential needs to promote life. Whether it’s chickens, sewing machines, Bibles, or a well for a community, these things take funds. Currently, we have met about 5% of our current goal.

While we have the passports and vaccines from our last trip, we’ll still need to acquire the visas soon for travel. Each person on the trip will be able to take up to three suitcases with them. So, we’ll be looking for additional suitcases to take filled and then leave behind.

The next 4 months will pass very quickly and we are looking forward to this next journey.