Welcome to Day 1 of Part 3‘s Chapter 4 of Arise and Shine. Today, Bettie is bringing forward our first free will offering for Chapter 4. She is sharing what the LORD showed her about His light in her about two years ago, when she prepared to go through an infusion for osteoporosis. The LORD is leading us to republish an old blog post of hers, written in the winter of 2019 as Day 1 of The Golden Lampstand.
“Can I ask you just what an infusion is?” I have had several friends ask me that question lately. As I have tried to answer that question, my heart suddenly realized it was another of those questions that is actually being asked of me by the Lord.
What does it mean to be infused?
The Oxford Online Dictionary has this definition for infusion:
infusion — Medicine
The slow injection of a substance into a vein or tissue.‘a four-hour intravenous infusion’ (from the Oxford Dictionaries, online)
By the time this post is published, I will probably be on my way to receive the first of several infusions. The Osteoporosis medication has been approved for infusion today. The timing has been in God’s hands, as experience has shown me (this is a repeat dosage from two years ago,) that I will be dealing with the after-effects of nausea and flu-like symptoms for about a week, and hoping to recover before the new RA infusions might be approved later this month.
Of course “infusion” comes from the words “to infuse,” which has a deeper meaning here:
- Fill; pervade.‘her work is infused with an anger born of pain and oppression’
- 1.1 Instil (a quality) in someone or something.‘he did his best to infuse good humour into his voice’ (from the Oxford Dictionaries online)
While I was getting a call from the Hospital approving that infusion, a dear friend was typing a prayer over me. She asked for the Lord “to infuse Bettie with the light of Your love.” How could she have known the conversation that was transpiring right then?
His mysteries surround us every day, every moment. Just as His light is shining His love on us:
the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 1 John 2:8
While the snow and icy cold seemed to cover most of the Country’s midsection this week, it felt that we were locked into a deep freeze that might never end. But the sun always breaks through, and the light begins to thaw the hardest ice with a soft melting.
Is there a parallel between the physical infusing of medications and the heart infusing of my Lord’s life and character into my very being?
Are there places of ice and stone in my heart where He would long to infuse me with His soft-hearted compassions . . . places where He would turn me inside out, and fill me up?
My Soul Was Tipped And Spilled
When I was a child
I used to wonder . . .
If I could be turned
inside out
What would my soul
look like?
For all the years I wore
the mask,
Was it to keep my soul
from tipping out?
Because underneath the aching
of a hurting heart
Lay a trusting child
in love with God.
So when my soul was
tipped and spilled,
What did God see
bubbling thru?
A
gift
of
LOVE
created
by
HIM.
Surrender to spill
Songs for singing
A Savior’s Call . . .
–bg
I offer this paraphrased version from the Message translation as my prayer this week. I come before you my friends, acknowledging that I have still despised this place of being in so much need. I have felt ashamed of carrying this disease in this body that won’t tolerate medications. And yet, as I bow before my Lord, asking His forgiveness, I hear Him singing His song of Love, infusing my neediness with HIS own pure light.
May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers. 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 (Message Translation)
May we allow our Lord to soak and pour Himself into us, because “His love and compassion give us so much life.” (words shared from another Dear Loved One this week.)
