Sandy Warner ~ ~ swauthor777@usa.net ~ ~ www.thequickenedword.com


ON THE OTHER SIDE OF BAND-AIDS AND BARNACLES

 

OPENED EARS  4/24/07: Today as I was thinking about the teaching on How to Rebuild Trust, the Lord opened up my ears and I literally heard the metallic sound of an old ship moving from the docks.  Whew, what an intense sound! 

 

QUICKENED MEMORY:  He brought back to memory an old post called Band-Aids and Barnacles.  I had no memory of the actual message, but I remembered the awesome dream about the rusty ship that turns to gold so I just re-read it.  It is sure not an old message, it is exactly on time with what the Lord is doing right now. 

 

 

BAND-AIDS & BARNACLES

8/8/00

 

Hi Loved Ones,
Band-aids — which do you prefer, the slow peel or that fast rip? The past couple of weeks I have been seeing a lot of band-aids in strange places. Now I must admit, maybe these have been popping up in unexpected places because I had a cut finger and suddenly my finger became paramount because it was pulsating to the rhythm of my heart for a few days. But my finger is healed now, and I am still seeing band-aids. When I saw one lying on the floor at a Mahesh conference a couple weeks ago, I decided this band-aid idea was DEFINITELY anointed. (What could be more anointed than a discarded band-aid at a Mahesh healing conference?)

This year I have been going through a stripping process where the Lord is peeling away layers of heart (t)issues that do not glorify Him. Now when He told us at the beginning of the new year that He was going to circumcise our hearts and give us new ones, I never thought it would be like THIS. Yeeeeeeee - ouch. The slow peel or the fast rip? Well I want it over really fast, and my heart is willing but my flesh is weak. I am sure I have heard that somewhere before. (Josh 5:8, Deut 10:16, Matt 26:41, Rom 7:18)

Band-aids usually mean blood. And when it comes time to peel the band-aid off, exposing a somewhat healed wound, it sometimes reopens a fresh wound. And if not, then the peeling causes its own pain. This is exactly what I have been through this year. It is like He is taking me through my past, exposing layers of band-aids. Last month, painful heart issues of 30 years ago, (that I thought were totally and long gone from my life) were suddenly surfacing.

Band-aids are flesh colored, they pad really well, they cover over a wound and they protect us from outside pain. Sometimes when we have been wounded in our past, we turn to fleshly comforts that cover our wounds, pad us from the pain, and soothe our hearts. God gives us good gifts and He does use band-aids. But something goes awry when we begin to rely on the band-aids and not the One Who tenderly placed them there. "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify." (1 Cor 10:23-24 NKJV)

When that band-aid becomes too important, it becomes an idol. Through this process, He revealed to me that when we rely on anything other than Him, and it becomes a support structure in our lives, it becomes an idol. He was stripping me of idolatry! And in His mercy He took me past the sin to its starting place. He pinpointed the wounding of where it all started. It was His way of telling me that He understood, and He looked beyond my faults and saw my need. Wow, what love.

I was in this stripped and vulnerable place when I attended the Mahesh conference. One of my desires was to talk to a prophetic intercessory friend of mine and ask him what the Lord was doing in his life since the turn of this year. I was secretly hoping that whatever he told me, would confirm me and let me know that I was not going loony and that even though things felt like they were out of control, God was still at the helm!

When I asked him, he shared a dream that someone had sent him:

DREAM:  RUSTY SHIP BECOMES GOLD
I am looking at a wide ocean bay, and see an oil tanker coming into the river. As it moves forward into the locks, the slots are narrowing. A close up view of the tanker reveals rust spots, streaks of rust and barnacles. Just ahead the locks are still narrowing and the water is becoming turbulent.

Finally one side of the tanker begins to scrape the sides of the concrete lock. There is a harrowing sound as it propels forward. Narrowing even more, the other side of the tanker grinds into the concrete, still moving. The sound is horrendous as concrete, barnacles and metal clash! Metal shrieks are deafening as barnacles are stripped away. Men appear on the deck, throwing old equipment and gear out, and the noise is almost unbearable.

The tanker is riding higher and lighter now. Clean, shiny metal is appearing all over the ship. The water is calmer, as the locks are widening and the ship glides forward. It leaves a huge, violent white wake behind as it glides into another bay, surrounded in lush green jungle.

[End of dream]


As I heard this dream, I was overcome by the joy of knowing that all this screeching I was making was godly, and that the Lord was removing all my barnacles! And to think that we are sitting on the power and enduement of all that oil… Oh boy are we coming into some great times. When my friend finished sharing the dream, he prophetically stated that the next assignment for the ship was to be painted in all gold. I had waves of the Lord’s Presence when he shared this.

As I ponder the barnacles, I am reminded of the verse, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us." (Heb 12:1-2 NLT) Barnacles are attachments that hang onto our lives that weigh us down. He wants them stripped off. It’s going to be a slow peel or a fast rip, either way God is behind this!

When the Lord told me at the beginning of the year (and He has told many prophetic people this) that He was bringing us into circumcision, (Joshua 5) I had no idea what that meant. I do now. He is wanting to cut away our carnality, flesh nature, excess baggage, idolatry, old habits, old life, old attitudes, opinions, demons, sins, giants… you name it, if it doesn’t glorify Him He wants it stripped away. I am thinking of that tanker shrieking and I don’t know who shrieks louder — the demons or our flesh. When we are in the middle of it, we can’t tell who is what, but what matters is that God is in control and He is having His way. He is preparing us for an awesome, new day.

Deut 30:5-6 NKJV
Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

The following is a prophetic Word to Ponder the Lord gave me in the 80’s. It is simple, but if you are in that wounded place, I pray it encourages your heart like it recently touched mine, when I needed it the most.


WOUNDED
I wound and I heal. I tear down and I build up. What is being fashioned you have not seen. Rest assured it is I Who have brought you to this place. A new thing is in the making. But I will also restore your walk to a smooth path without shame. Your confidence shall return. Be of good cheer. (Deut 32:39)

Lovingly,
Sandy

 

{end of Band-aids and Barnacles}

 

 

RESTORATION AFTER THE CLEARING AWAY

So today, 7 years after that post I marvel at the Lord’s process of stripping off everything in our souls and flesh that are excess baggage.  7 is the number for completion.  (Praise God!)

 

He is going to move into a great restoring in these last days that rebuilds His temple, His people, His kingdom on earth.  He has been clearing away the rubble so that He can restore the stripped foundations.  As I have been praying about the rebuilding process, one of the first things He is going to rebuild is our trust, in Him and one another.  Hearing that clashing metal ship reminds me of these scriptures, "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend...Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."  (Prov 27:6 & 27 NKJV)  Hey what are friends for?  Smile.

 

We sure can make a mess of things, but the Lord promises to redeem all our messes and rebuild all our fallen places.  If you missed the teaching on how to rebuild trust, here is the link:

 

 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Words from the The Quickened Word are excerpts from the journals of Sandy Warner.  To better understand how God speaks, read Sandy’s book, “101+ Ways God Speaks, And How to Hear Him.”  Website:
www.thequickenedword.com    Email:  swauthor777@usa.net  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

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