ARE YOU A DEFENSIVE OR AN OFFENSIVE PLAYER?  By Janet Henman.

This last football season my grandson played for Chico High Football team, so I was attending football games every Friday night.  Now I don’t really know a lot about football, but I was there to support my grandson and I got to know a little bit about this game.

Each team is composed of 2 sets of players.  One set is called Defense and is responsible for keeping the opposing team out of their area.  The other set is Offence, whose job it is to push back the opposing team when they have succeeded in crossing into enemy territory.  My grandson’s team won many games because they were able to push back the opposing team and went on to win the championship.

I bring this up because our spiritual life and past experiences can cause us to be either a Defensive or Offensive player in the kingdom of God.

I am on the board of Hearts Being Healed and after each of our events we offer a class called “Treasures out of Trauma “ written by Arlene Hendriks.  This is not just another Bible study or book you read; it is a life changing interactive book.  It impacts your life in such a dramatic way that uncovers, removes and heals wounds that you sometimes don’t even realize your holding on to.  So, I decided to take this class because God has done a lot healing in my life and I wanted to be able to help other women walk this journey of healing from the painful events in their life.

But God always has more for us; to not just be spectators and watch the game but to fully engage as participators in the adventure of becoming whole and set free as we trust Him with the most painful places in our lives.

I want to share with you some insights I have gained from one of the chapters in this book, called “Becoming an Offensive Player”.

Many of us have become defensive players in our spiritual life.  We think the past was past, nothing I could do about it, so just get on with life and try to keep Satan from gaining any more territory.  We even sometimes listen and respond when the Lord shows us our wounds but we choose to not actively discover or renounce their influence on us.  When we try to evade the pain, we build up walls which we hope will keep the pain out, playing Defense again and not understanding what God’s purposes is for kicking that ball out of our hands.

God’s Word has some important revelation of His heart as well as instruction and encouragement in the process of healing.

Isaiah 49:16 “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

Psalm 102: 19-21 “For He looked down from His holy height; from heaven the Lord gazed upon the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to set free those who were doomed to death;”

1 John 3:8b” The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

Hebrews 7:25 “For He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

John 8:32 “If you know the truth, the truth will set you free.”

When we let God begin to share His heart with us, allowing Him into those desperately wounded places, He walks into those experiences with us.  He plants His agenda in us, teaching us His lessons from them.  Not only do they lose their power over us, but our hearts are entwined with His in a way we never dreamed possible.  We begin to understand His thoughts and His character in exciting ways.  We become Offensive players now pushing back those painful events in our life and choosing to trust Him and let Him lead us to that victory and win the game!

I know for me God has taken my messes and made them His message as I chose to let go of my defenses and let God heal those past experiences and be set free!

If you want more information on this Bible study, go to Heartsbeinghealed.org and inquire how you can start your journey to becoming an Offensive player in the Kingdom of God!