(Please see my article “He Touched Me” for part one.)
I heard a sermon that changed my life called “Freeze Tag”. When you were a kid, did you ever play the game freeze tag? It’s like playing tag, one person is “it” and runs around, trying to tag the others, the difference is once you are tagged, you must freeze in that position. You remain that way until one of the other people who aren’t “it” come and touch you and unfreeze you, then you are free to run around again. Well, my life related to this game of freeze tag, as I’m sure many others do. At a point in my life, I was frozen. The part of me that was frozen didn’t grow up and didn’t want to feel because of the pain I was trying to avoid. I needed to find ways to numb my feelings. People get frozen for different reasons, mine was a combination. I had low self-esteem and self-worth. I had what I refer to as a “soil of shame” and a “root of rejection”. These were brought into my life for various reasons.
When I heard the sermon, I knew something had happened inside of me. Monday was his day off, so Tuesday I got up my nerve and called my Pastor. He was so gracious! I poured it all out, I told him all the things I was ashamed of and how helpless I was to stop on my own. I just wanted to live for Jesus-completely! He talked to me about my concerns of quitting and starting a new life, he prayed with me and that was the day I quit!
“Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 NIV
Once you’ve been frozen in life, you need a touch to get defrosted just like in the game. The difference is that in the game, anyone who isn’t “it” can touch you and set you free. In life, Jesus is the One who touches the frozen places in us and sets us free. He touches the frozen part of you and you’re defrosted. That part of you is now allowed to grow and heal. It’s a difficult process. My frozen part was my emotions; I truly didn’t know how to feel, or what I was feeling. Making decisions was hard; I didn’t know what my opinions were. I cried very easily because my emotions were right on the surface. I wasn’t used to feeling, so when I did feel it was intense.
“One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!”13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!” Luke 13:10-13 NLT
This sums up how Jesus touched me. I was frozen in life always looking down, unable to look up because the things of the world held me in bondage. He touched me and I wasn’t frozen anymore, I could look up and see Jesus, look Him right in the eye and know that He loved me, He healed me!
Anyone can be used by Jesus to be “Jesus in the skin” to someone else, let Him use you today. Let Him use your former pain and shame to minister to others. Help Him set the captives free.
“who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” II Corinthians 1:4 RSV
(Continued in my next article “The Battle Belongs to the Lord”)© Deb Nelson
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