I have been told I am not like other counselors. Over and over I have had clients tell me that I am different. They keep coming and present positive change, so I will assume that the difference is good and it's not that my off humor just keeps them coming. No, I know in my in most being what makes the difference. The difference is key.
See, I am not the main counselor in the room. The main counselor is the Lord. As long as He is leading, the counseling is good, in fact it is straight to the heart, motivating, and life changing. It is, more than any other counseling, heart changing! It is heart restoring.
This is the foundation of what I do... or don't do.
It is the brokenness of heart that leads people to counseling. The lack of love, weather it be in found in loss, trauma, rejection, or a list of other pains. They are lacking love. They come wondering, "Does anyone care?" "Am I unlovable?" or "Was it my lack that brought about this inflicted pain?" What the main counselor in the room (The Lord) wants to do is love them back to health; to tell them they are broken, but lovable. That they are enough even in their lack. That their darkness of mind, heart and acts are not too much to bear witness to and more than anything, that they are not a lost cause.
A lost cause. This is what every heart fears they are. That they have been hurt too many times, hurt others too many times, or just couldn't measure up enough to be worthy of some true care... or love.
When you sit with a client and listen to the Lord tell you about that client what you hear is not a list of highlighted failures. Instead, what I have heard is, "Look at them as I see them. Yes, they are broken, but I can fix them. I love them. I want you to love them for me. I want you to tell them they are enough, enough for me to love. They are lovable and there is hope."
This is the Groom watching His Bride. No matter what state she is in or what she is done, even though they have not even met yet he sees her and desires to woo her. He desires to help her. He wants to love her perfectly in spite of the brokenness.
Now, don't get me wrong. I don't sit with clients and tell them this. These clients are most often not believers and in the room I am okay with that. In session He does not ask me to say His name and tell them He is the only way. He understands my restrictions. He just asks me to love them for Him and see them through His eyes. In working with the Lord, I know that He is asking me to let my heart be filled with His love and to let it overflow. As I meld His love with my training (which He led me through) and skills (which He gave to me) to help them heal.
As long as I would keep love at the forefront of my mind the sessions are positive and life changing.
Why am I telling you all this? I know that most of you who will read this are not counselors. I write this because if you got this far reading this God probably wanted to let you know this so you can go forward and help others too. Or, maybe you had the same questions as my clients and needed to hear He loves you.
He really, really loves you... more than you have faith to believe. More than any of our minds can grasp.
He loves the most broken people. I think He loves them the most. They need Him the most. They are the furthest from Him at times and as they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder. This is true for Christ. Like the widow and the lost coin, He seeks after the lost not the found.
Many people think of those who's brokenness is glaringly obvious can't come to the Lord or can't be loved till they are changed. Really? Is that the example Jesus showed? No, the very opposite in fact.
I love what Joyce Meyer noted in a sermon. She said, "You can't clean a fish till you catch it."
Yup, fish, like humans are dirty. Jesus wants us to fish. He wants us to be found with dirty hands, not in sin, but in love.
Using the spirit as guidance is a powerful message! Thanks Carrie!
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