“Lord, offend my mind to reveal what’s in my heart.”

Andrew Shearman was here once more to pour out some of the wisdom and insight that God has given him over the years. For those who aren’t familiar with him, Mr. Shearman is a shock-and-awe loving Brit who loves to share the simple (and sometimes offensive - in the best way) truth about Christ. This time around, he addressed the stones that often become hindrances in our walk back to the Tree of Life. Stones like fear, rejection, and more.

I'd prayed that prayer above quite a few times over this past year. And I realized that as Shearman was speaking, my mind was getting frustrated. Unsettled. Disrupted. 

I was being offended, and it hurt. I recognized that I was falling under some of these stones, and honestly? It just sucked.

It sucked to realize I was still in need of so much more healing. It sucked to realize I was handing over power to fear.

And it was good. It cracked something open in my heart - broke off some stubborn hard thing that I thought had been protecting my heart, but was actually suffocating it.

And as Shearman had us stand up and declare things through prayer, all I could do was weep. And as he lifted my chin and asked if I was okay, I got to make my own declaration.

"Yes. Yes, I'm okay."

Andrew Shearman showed me more of the Father in that moment. He speaks the hard things, and loves even harder. And for that, I'm forever grateful.