Last week I went to a ladies retreat. It is an annual retreat and prior, to moving to our current location, I went for six years in a row. Then due to work commitments and other obligations I didn’t go for three years and then I went this year. So this year was actually my seventh—knowing how keen God is on sevens, perhaps I should have suspected He was up to something! But I did not. I went expecting a relaxing time, of catching up with other ladies and hearing some good messages.
On the first evening the speaker spoke about getting rid of our excess baggage. Along the lines of Hebrews 12:2 “lay aside everything that weighs us down”. I wasn’t particularly aware of anything I needed to lay aside. However God knew better.
Following the message I was sharing with some ladies about a difficult meeting that I had at my work place just prior to coming away. I was feeling upset about it. One of the ladies, who has a prayer counseling ministry, made the comment that there seemed to be more going on than just the meeting and perhaps we could get together and pray about it? It seemed like a good idea. This lady ended up spending quite a bit of time praying with me and it turned out to be a very healing time for me. God knew I was still carrying pain from things that had happened when I was very young and even though I thought I had dealt with all the issues associated with this trauma there were still remnants, untouched by God’s healing grace. Consequently, but unknowingly, this pain had been affecting the way I reacted in certain situations.
As I reflected on this time, I am amazed at how God orchestrated the circumstances so I was in a position to receive this blessing.
…for your Father knows what you need before you ask him…Matthew 6:8
