Prunes? Say what?
All right, if you’re not in the ‘senior’ category, this might not exactly be on your mind. Trust me, it will still apply, no matter your age group.
God’s sense of humor never ceases to amaze me. He can take any mundane, so-very-down-to-earth issue and make a lesson out of it. I was struggling with serious constipation, as many seniors do. To the point I’d started praying about it. God knows our bodies inside out, so to speak, since He created them. He also knows when things go awry from His original plan.
I had begun reading David Herzog’s book, Jumpstart, Your Way to Healthy Living. [FYI David also operates in the prophetic.] He suggested, before attempting a weight loss plan, to pursue a cleanse of parasites from your body. These evidently can be picked up in any number of places
After trying assorted natural remedies, including certain foods, hydration, exercise, etc., all to no avail, I asked God for help. As He often does, He took me beyond the physical realm and opened my eyes to a similar issue of the soul. A deep belly laugh was my response. “Really? You’re going to teach me something theological related to constipation?”
“Yes, indeed.!”
Here’s the gist of what He shared with me, as best I can summarize.
- In addition to physical parasites, whose ultimate effect is to clog up and slow down your system and thus begin to poison your body, there are parasites which clog and begin to poison your soul.
- The ‘unhealthy’ things you watch, listen to, and read for entertainment and distraction
- Resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, judgment, criticism, condemnation, and a desire for vengeance
- Sometimes we’ve unknowingly picked up parasites from our own family members or friends, who may have long ago taken up an offense and passed it on.
- We may also have received them from lying media sources or even trusted teachers, who served up deception and corrupt attitudes masquerading as truth
- Constipation of the soul blocks His Spirit from flowing freely through us. This hinders blessing both to ourselves and others.
- It makes us uncomfortable, grumpy, irritable, and ‘cranky,’ just as does physical constipation. We take offense easily, as Scripture plainly decries. [1Cor 13:5]
- We become distracted from focusing on what is important, what God is saying to us. We become distracted from DOING what He wants us to do..
- Spiritual constipation poisons our thoughts, as we find ourselves dwelling on hurts, whether recent or long-standing. We rehearse old wounds, even when we have no overt desire to do so. We search for an eraser to cleanse our minds and a brand-new ✏️ to write what is pleasing to God there, instead. Yet the rehearsal keeps starting back at the beginning. A groundhog day unhealthy for the soul.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and CLEANSE us from all unrighteousness.”
We’ve heard it so often, it may have lost its profound life-changing effect. Sometimes we think of this verse for ‘sins-in-bulk’ We’re saved! Alleluia! Oh wait, what’s the first part again? “If we confess our sins…” Have we asked God to cleanse us of unforgiveness, of bitterness, of resentment, of judging and criticizing others, of watching things no Christian has any business watching…things that grieve our Lord? Have we confessed arrogance, a Jezebel spirit of spiritual superiority, of knowing better than everyone else, of trying to manipulate others into doing what we want done? Ooohhhh, now we’re getting down to more deeply impacted bowels of the soul.
Root it all out, Holy Spirit! I want none of it! Whatever it takes! I want a whistle-clean colon of the soul! Part of me is afraid to ask; afraid to let go; afraid to give up favorite sins; afraid to admit to those thoughts, words, and deeds that will otherwise remain hidden. But You already know it all. There is no hiding anything from You. I want to be clean and pure, pleasing in Your sight more than I want to hang onto unhealthy things. “See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:24)
