Oil into Wood - unexpected themes.

The Boiler Room people are preparing here for 5 days of 27-7 prayer beginning Sunday. In preparation yesterday we went in and stripped down all the butcher paper and other places people had written prayers and verses last time, and put up blank sheets for God to write on as he speaks to us.

Similarly, I have been getting used to the idea of this sabbatical time as a time where I make space and time for God to speak to me. But I suppose I have expected Him to speak in specific "growth" areas: rest, balance, sabbath, etc. As a Master Painter, though, it seems he is not averse to painting different subjects than the ones I had thought were on the table.

Yesterday, I had taken some books over to the comfy corner chair and planned on reading them. Next to the chair, I saw the pile of books that belong to Jonathan, the resident guy who reads a lot, and one drew my attention.
It had big, bright pictures and little text, but the text was talking about suffering. When we are hit with suffering, everything that has guided us in the past is suddenly gone and we are left way out of the box. In fact the box we knew is smashed and all the rules that applied are no more. All the plans that fit so nicely are up in the air.  And what insulated and protected us is gone. We are left with an empty place inside us that opens up. . .

I was reading this rather academically and then out of left field came the idea my sabbatical was not only about me being overworked and needing a break but also about a pretty heavy amount of suffering and hard times over the past 3 years. Certainly many others have had far worse but it has not been an easy time.

I sat there in the corner chair and listed down some things. And then I sat still for a while and almost drifted off to sleep and God sent the image of himself rubbing oil into very dry wood. It is fairly rare that God sends me visual images. Never anything audible, and never long enough to qualify as a "vision" - but I have had brief but powerful pictures come to me.

"Rubbing oil into wood" - now that is an odd image. I know that when people bring wooden carvings back from humid climates (SE Asia, Cote d'Ivoire), they tend to crack badly when they get to the dryer American climate. And so one rubs oil on them to keep the wood from cracking, though usually one starts too late, after the wood is cracked.
The image seemed to be one of God workinng an ongoing healing in my heart for hard things.


I know I dozed off for a while thinking about this and then at some point the name of the Keith Green song below came very strongly into my mind. I had it on my phone and so found it and listened to it. Three times!

My Eyes are Dry
My eyes are dry
My faith is old
My heart is hard
My prayers are cold
And I know how I ought to be
Alive to You and dead to me

But what can be done
For an old heart like mine
Soften it up
With oil and wine
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love
Please wash me anew
With the wine of Your Blood

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God seems to be speaking to me from a million different sources and the "global/Intuitive" side of me is swimming in it, trying to pick up the big ideas.
A related idea to the suffering theme is one from Donald Miller's book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, which compares life to story, with God writing into our story if we will let him. In a good story, the protagonist must undergo conflict and face fears and overcome obstacles, and it is through those hard things that he changes. The pain he faces makes the eventual resolution of the story more joyful. "Joy costs pain".