The Body of Christ

"And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your heart, but you shall not mourn...(this) will be a sign to (Israel)..." (Ezek. 24:15-27)

When I read about God's plan to kill Ezekiel's wife and use the tragedy as a sign the people of Israel, I wept. How could God, this awesome, loving Father, demand such a gut-wrenching heart-break from His servant simply to be used as a teaching tool in his ministry?! God! How cruel! How harsh! But then we look throughout scriptures and God asked similar sacrifices from His servants for the sake of their ministries: Isaiah was told to name his sons unfavorable names as a sign to the people of Israel, Hosea (man of God and chastity) was told to marry a prostitute to symbolize Israel's adultery towards God, and Jesus was called to the earth to suffer and die as the Perfect Sacrifice for sin.

Why does God do this? I honestly don't know. But it gives me hope to know that sometimes, the pain we go through, as random and as unfair as it may seem, may have a much bigger purpose in His mind that goes far beyond our personal lives and struggles.

The Lord had revealed to me about 18 months ago (Fall ‘05) that my illness, or rather, my body was a picture of His Bride as a whole. The revelation He gave me last year was that just as my organs were either dead, dying, working isolated from others, working against other organs, or working against themselves (autoimmune), so it is with His Church. Her entities (or congregations/church bodies) are dead (without the Spirit’s power), dying, working alone, working against other churches, or fighting within themselves.

Yesterday, He gave me further insight about my illness in relation to what His Bride is suffering. He asked me to go through specific symptoms or physical issues that I am experiencing and then He showed me how the same is true with the Church. He also led me in a prayer for a solution, which my spirit leapt as the prayer escaped my lips.

Forgive me if some of the descriptions are a little graphic or offensive, as this deals with biological function and how it relates to the Church’s spiritual function. Some of the ailments I am suffering, as well as the Body of Christ, is just “not pretty”.

The first issue we confronted was digestion and appetite. My intestines are not absorbing nutrition. Despite the amount of calories or food rich in nutritional value, I am unable to absorb the nutrients without the help of supplements, and only then, the “absorption” is temporary. So it is with the Church. We are constantly receiving the word through good preaching, Bible Studies, prayer groups, tapes, music, etc. but we are not absorbing the nutrients of the Word-its life-giving power doesn’t remain in our hearts. In addition, I rarely am hungry to eat my food. I do a lot of force feeding to maintain caloric intake, but I do not enjoy the meal nor desire it, really. It’s a monotonous “ritual” just to keep calories. Same with the Church. We have lost our hunger and thirst for righteousness. We are constantly consuming it with our “ritualistic” behavior in church attendance, Bible Studies, etc. but we are not hungry for more of Him. Finally, I have difficulty in elimination. I eat enough, but my digestive system is sluggish and I suffer from some constipation. The Church as a whole is full of Word, but does not give it out. She receives her meal, but she doesn’t pass it on in discipleship and mentoring. Same with finances. Church goers, in general, whether affluent or not, gives very little of time, money, or resources. Constantly consuming, and very little giving.

Another issue was the liver. The liver is the “filter” of the body. It takes whatever is consumed, water, food, oxygen, etc. and filters/eliminates toxic materials from the beneficial to the body. My liver is strained and congested; so is the Church’s ability to discern good and evil. The Church is losing her ability to separate the world’s values from God’s standards; her filter is clogging with the ways of culture.

Immune System: I basically have no immune system, which gives me the ability to fight off or stand against infections. The Church is powerless against the attacks of the enemy. Since she is losing her ability to discern toxic material from the beneficial, she is powerless to deflect the outright attacks of her enemy. Many Christians fall prey to the same terror, anxieties, agendas, etc. as that of the culture, in which she lives. She is weak and helpless to defend against attacks against Christian morals and violation of righteous standards and truth.

Loss of Reproductiveness. My female organs are basically dead as of right now. I do not know (from personal exprience) what “loss of libido” is; however, the Lord revealed to me that, in this context, His Bride has lost her passion for her first Love. She does not desire to please her King as she used to; she is dormant and does not seek to birth the visions and dreams of advancing her King’s kingdom, nor desires (or fears) to have an intimate relationship with Him.

Vision: my physical eyes are beginning to blur (from fatigue and blood sugar issues). The Church’s vision and purpose has dimmed-she is losing sight of who she is, Whose she is, what she is called to do, and what authority has been given to her through the blood of her Savior. Also, I am very sensitive to light-bright light hurts my eyes and I always have to wear some type of shade or sunglasses. The Church, because of her ailments, shies away from looking upon the face of her Light-His light of truth hurts to behold, so she retracts from the truth or looks upon it through veiled perception, tinting the severity of His justice. In and of itself, Truth is too painful to receive.

The combination of all of these symptoms, it’s no wonder the church is powerless. She is sick! And the Lord longs to heal her. And this is what He told me to pray:

“Pray for the physicians. Pray for doctors and nurses to be raised up who have an unrelenting passion and purpose to heal my bride. Pray that they will be equipped in supernatural wisdom, compassion, earnestness, mercy, and relentless perseverance that will not stop until every part of her Body is restored. Pray for them to be equipped with the right medicines of the Word, of Song, of Love that will medicate her at her deepest points of need.”

He has shown us the illness, and now He is calling us to pray forth His remedy. A rising of His doctors, who He has prepared for such a time as this to restore His Bride from weak and powerless, to strong and mighty to overcome.

Honestly, I really don't know why God sometimes permits or purposefully assigns struggle for the sake of His plans and ministerial outreach. I do know that He is all Sovereign and His wisdom goes beyond human comprehension. We don't necessarily have to know why God does things in seemingly confusing ways that are antithetical to Who we believe Him to be. We must simply trust in Him, knowing that He is good, He is Love, and He is in control.