Tag Archives: emotional healing

Bible Stories, Choices, Stories

A Biblical Account of Transforming Truth

New Information Can Bring Healing

Here is one of the Bible accounts that I think illustrate the principle of how God can heal with new information. The story is found in the Bible in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 3. It’s a familiar story for those who grew up going to Sunday School: the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I would encourage you to read it again in your own favourite translation.

In this story a king named Nebuchadnezzar ruled over Babylon. He was, an arrogant cruel tyrant who held all of his subjects’ lives in the palm of his hand. In this particular story, he set up a giant golden image to be worshipped. To make sure he was obeyed, he announced that anyone who didn’t fall down and worship the image would be thrown into a fiery furnace.

King Nebuchadnezzar heard that three of his leaders, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, refused to worship the golden image. The king was in a furious rage and ordered the furnace heated seven times more than usual before he had the three men thrown into the fire. Would you agree that Nebuchadnezzar was emotionally upset? That sounds like an enormous understatement.

Our Beliefs Impact Our Emotions

Why do you suppose he reacted so violently? May I suggest that his fury and rage were based on his beliefs:

He was absolutely always right

He had the right to expect and demand complete and unquestioning obedience because he was the king and like a god

Perhaps he was also very much afraid of allowing any other opinion or practice lest he appear weak before men which could cost him his own life

If you skip the middle of the story and jump straight to Chapter 3 verse 30, you might scratch your head and wonder, “What on earth made him change from vengeful rage to promoting them in the province of Babylon? What would calm a fury and lead to an endorsement?”

The answer is found in verses 24-27. Nebuchadnezzar was astonished when he saw four men walking in the midst of the fire unharmed and the form of the fourth one is like the Son of God or the son of the gods. When he called the three Hebrew men out of the fire, they were not singed nor did they even smell like smoke.

Truth Can Set Us Free and Change Our Attitudes

Nebuchadnezzar had a complete emotional transformation that day. Interestingly enough there is no evidence that anyone else saw the fourth person in the furnace. Not even Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego mentioned seeing him or talking to him. It may have been for the king’s eyes only. But none the less, the truth set him free from whatever he believed enough to completely change his attitude towards the Hebrew servants and their God.

I believe that God can grant you freedom the same way by showing you things that you could never see without His help. Because God is not limited to time, He can appear anytime and act in ways you could not have imagined on your own. In the next post, I will share with you how He showed up in one of my own most difficult circumstances.

 

Choices

Everybody Gets Hurt Sometimes

That’s right, honey. Everybody gets hurt sometime. There is no free and easy ride for anyone. We live in a fallen world, some say. We get to choose how we will deal with those bad days, weeks or years.

Hi there,

My name is Muriel Rae. I’ve had my share of bad days, just like you. I used to be a victim, and I grew very unhappy. I whined, cried, begged, ranted and raged for life to be different and grew angry and depressed. I put on fake smiles at all the right times but never left my sad state of mind. I felt helpless.

One day I got tired of my life as it was. I thought I’d done all I could to be the best person I could be and had been rejected for my effort. I wanted my life to be different. I wanted a change. This blog is a record of my story. Some changes took a long time, some happened in an instant. I’m still on the journey.

I am sharing this with you because maybe, like me, you want a change. It all starts with one simple decision and then another and another. We all get to choose. It is the one single talent everyone has. The ability to make choices.

It is my hope that you will learn from my story. Perhaps you can make your life different.

 

My life is radically different today than it was when I made my first big decision. It is full of joy and blessing. It’s not perfect of course (who’s life is?). But it is a whole lot better than it was because I chose to embark on a healing journey. It’s been a wild ride at times. But, oh how glad I chose to go this way. Join me if you like. You get to choose.