Life Behind the Scenes

‘…But if you do not forgive,

neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’

Mark 11:26

Have you ever wished you could turn back the hands of time, if only for a few seconds? Perhaps you have made this wish, if ever so briefly, to correct a grave error, to avoid an accident or to side step a hurt to yourself or a loved one. I have silently wished this on many occasions, but, like you, have yet to have this wish granted. Rather, I have been granted two things that are more useful in this life. These are a fair sense of the consequences of actions and a keen interest in trying to perceive what may have occurred in the spiritual world ‘just before’ a particular action was manifested.

Thankfully, my parents instilled into me a fair sense of the consequences of my actions as an often-disobedient child. This has served me well, even when grace intervenes, and I don’t get what I deserved.

My growing interest in perceiving what may have occurred in the world of spirit just before a particular incident is probably based on frequently hearing, as a young boy, Paul’s admonition, ‘now we see through a glass darkly.’ Boy, how that would spark my curiosity! I even recall looking through the bottom glass of a broken Coca Cola bottle to get an idea of what he was talking about. Reading The Bible’s account of miracles and appearances of spiritual beings, my imagination would often get the best of me as I strained to perceive what might have been going on behind-the-scenes just prior to these appearances.

As an adult experienced in the world of international diplomatic affairs, I can easily perceive and associate some of the behind-the-scenes developments leading to landmark moments in diplomacy. No doubt, we all have some level of perceptiveness and can relate to such associations in our various professions.

But what of our spiritual perceptiveness en avance? Many Christians practice a kind of ex post facto spiritual awareness by which they associate some past physical development to, or with a particular spiritual principle. While this is better than no spiritual awareness at all, it takes little growth and practically no faith to do this. In fact, we probably all know of Christians who regularly practice such an ex post awareness by easily spiritualizing just about every development that comes along …after the fact.

What may be needed is a sharper, inner perceptiveness to pierce, to see, hear, and feel, beyond the veil or behind-the-scenes of everyday life. Better yet, The Bible confirms it is our circumstantial reality that is really behind the scenes, and that spiritual activity is, in effect, up-front and more real than what we call reality. This may be why we are noted as living in the ‘third dimension.’ Since spiritual activity precedes or spawns and influences all physical activity, we are the ones living life behind-the-scenes, so to speak.

Joshua’s experience in preparing the ancient, relatively inexperienced Israeli army for the battle for the city of Jericho is a clear illustration of this point. Following an encounter with the ‘Commander of the army of The Lord’, (Joshua 5:14), he is no doubt startled when The Lord subsequently says, ‘See! I have [already or just] given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.’ (Joshua 6:2)  Thus, before the Israeli army had taken the first step against Jericho, The Lord had already fought and won the battle for the city, spiritually speaking!

Hundreds of years following Joshua’s incredible experience, Paul confirmed a key principle, and admonished us to become more aware of what’s happening up front as we live our lives behind the veil:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,

against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,

against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

(Ephesians 6:12)

As a microcosm of practically everything that God is not, un-forgiveness must be chief among these powers, a real show stopper! Fear-based, un-giving, selfish and egocentric, un-forgiveness evidences lack of trust in God, and is rooted in pride, the original (first recorded) sin, committed by satan. Jesus confirmed un-forgiveness is a close cousin to doubt and disbelief (Mark 11:25), promoting pride in our ability to handle a matter better than God can. As un-forgiveness is high on the list of things that block the flow of God’s power in our lives, forgiveness must be high on God’s list of character traits of Christ to be developed in us.

How Jackie wished so hard that she could have turned back the hands of time just for a few seconds as she heard the echoes of some horribly harsh word that uncontrollably flew out of her mouth! The lingering stresses of a long settled divorce apparently had crept in deeper than she was aware, and had worn down her defenses.  While certain that she had forgiven her ex and herself of all hurts and disappointments, she continued to wrestle with off-the-cuff sarcasm and jokes about her former life, easily rehearsing scenes from the past. Her sarcasm had become second nature, easily streaming out of her mouth in certain company and circumstances, leaving its stinging bite lingering heavily in the air.

To help dig out of this pit of un-forgiveness, Jackie activated her keen imagination with the awareness that physical manifestations are but the fruit or afterbirth of spiritual activity. She sharpened her sense of the future past, actively and simultaneously imagining both the likely spiritual roots and consequences of her words and actions before she let them fly! With time and experience, this gradually reduced the frequency of situations in which she wished she could just turn back the hands of time.

With the same vigor and spiritual perceptiveness, she tackled the apparently deep-rooted issues of un-forgiveness she had toward others, of which she was largely unaware. Through diligent and vigilant prayer, and with the support of a book, Feelings Buried Alive Never Die, by Karol Truman, Jackie became increasingly aware of how unresolved negative emotional experiences, including un-forgiveness, take root within our spirits, and eventually manifest as physical illnesses and disease. This revelation ignited a new found passion to rid herself of past un-forgiveness of herself and others as a kind of double insurance policy, to ensure better health and the continued flow of God’s power in her life.

Here’s how Jackie got to the root of her problem:

·      She asked for God’s help as she acknowledged and confessed her problem of unresolved un-forgiveness

·      She chose to no longer hold onto the spirit of un-forgiveness

·      She began to listen more attentively to her thoughts and conversations for signs of sarcasm and jokes about her former life, rehearsing scenes from the past

·      She learned and applied effective conflict resolution skills, refusing to ‘let the sun go down on her wrath’ and embracing Matthew 5:23-25: ‘Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary.’

Above all, Jackie forsook any rights to hold onto un-forgiveness, realizing that her own need for God’s forgiveness is inextricably linked to her willingness to forgive others. In this manner, Jackie learned to live her life behind the ‘spiritual scene’ or shield of forgiveness. Now she understands more fully that…

Forgiveness is God’s opportunity for us to

walk in the grace that we have received.

In considering yet another perspective of living life behind-the-scenes, admittedly, my curiosity gets the best of me when I reflect upon Matthew 28, which provides an array of signals and warnings concerning life on earth just prior to the rapture of the Church. Rather than the traditional focus on interpreting (and often mis-interpreting) news events, I often reflect upon who could be the last soul saved.

Reflect with me on this topic for just a minute. Imagine in a split second that we are collectively on the ‘cloud ride to Glory’ and all that you believe this moment will entail begins to unfold before you. Now, just imagine you are able to somehow ‘rewind the tape’ a few minutes or hours before this glorious event, and to witness that last person on earth who repented of his/her sins and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Now, imagine what may have been going on in Heaven at this very moment, when God turns to Jesus and says something like,

‘Son, that completes Our Church. Go now and bring them home…’

Back on the cloud ride, can you imagine the tremendous joy and satisfaction of the person who will have shared Christ with this ‘last soul’ leading to this final decision for salvation?!

As you continue in your life behind Heaven’s scene here on Earth,

imagine you may very well be the person who shares Christ with …

‘that last soul’ to be swept into God’s Kingdom.