Denton County Living Well Magazine September/October 2018 | Page 21

By Michelle Wallace was wrong, she said she was busy. But there was obviously something more. I prayed and saw she had wounds from trauma from her past. Then something small happened to her in my home that brought that to the sur- face and the full force of her wound caused her to stop speaking to me. So I apologized for what I knew to apologize for, then I began to pray for the Lord to heal her broken heart and bring reconciliation. The truth is, we are not called to walk with everyone in this hour. God is bringing divine align- ments for the assignments He’s giving us today. But we are all called to be ministers of reconciliation. And withdrawal without communication is very unhealthy. But the Bible says as far as it depends on you, live at peace with all men. At this point, I just forgive, pray and love my friend where she is. Full Page Ad Another person who is very close to our family, was offended because something we said was misconstrued and rather than try to resolve the issue they told themselves an even bigger story that caused an even bigger offense. What happened? Well, first you have to say to yourself, I have had a couple people in my life become offended lately. What is my part i n that? Do I communicate clearly enough? Have I loved them well? Maybe we missed signs of an unhealthy relationship. Sometimes, I’ve unknowingly participated in ways that were codependent. We want to be in healthy relationship with others. So that they are able to become the best version of themselves that God created them to be. Anything less, is not biblical love. Once I’ve seen how I might have contributed to the offense in some way, again, I go to that person if it’s possible and humble myself and ask forgiveness. In this instance, there was far more going on than meets the eye. While I may not always handle things or communicate perfectly, the enemy was using another person to perpetuate lies. There is literally an evil force involved, like the serpent in scripture called Leviathan, which means “twister”. The nature of this serpent is described in Job 41 and in Isaiah 27:1, “twisted serpent”. We can look at this animal to describe the activi- ties of the enemy, similar to a crocodile that sneaks up on its prey, snatches it, takes it into the water and literally twists the life out it until it can be con- sumed. And after consuming its prey, it flees. Let me assure you, you’re not crazy. The enemy is so crafty it can twist words in midair, leaving a trail of wounds and offense in its wake. Again, our responsibility in it all is to come up high enough to see what’s really going on. John Bevere, author of “The Bait of Satan”, writes, “The man or woman who doesn’t forgive has forgotten the price that Christ paid for them on the Cross.” This is how we live in freedom from the schemes of the enemy, we look to the cross. To learn more about Michelle and see what she’s up to, visit her page on Facebook at “Michelle Wallace-Hand of the King” DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 19