The Empath...

WARNING: this one will be a little bizarre for the more traditional! :)

this is deanna troi from the tv series "star trek: next generation". oh my goodness, i used to LOVE this show and this character! deanna is half-human/half-alien. her alien side gives her the ability to sense the feelings of others, which actually ends up being helpful in situations as words or appearances don't always give the full story.

here's why i like her so much...her character represented the value of the emotional side of life. her "gift" gave relevance to more than just the rational or intellectual perspective on matters. her presence was needed for the full picture in any given situation.

so here's what i've been realizing...i think i have a spiritual gift in this department.

when i was growing up, i would be struck with emotion sometimes that i could not identify as my own. sometimes i would actually feel it from specific people or situations. sometimes it was just an unidentifiable cloud. because i couldn't understand this, it became easier to just withdraw...or question my sanity, but as i learned more about god and his heart, i began feeling that perhaps this emotion was something more.

years later, i started to get more serious about prayer. on occasion, my eyes would just start watering. i wouldn't necessarily be sad at the moment it would start, but regardless, my eyes would just start leaking all over the place. a mentor told me later, as a half-joke, that i didn't have to be concerned with speaking in tongues because my prayers came out of my eyes. :) the funny thing is that even today i still don't speak in tongues or have a prayer language...mostly my eyes just water and twitch a little. yes, different mascara required. ;)

which brings us to the present...well, i've been practicing not being so resistant to the emotional nature that is "me". i've been trying to not hide in the rational (not a good fit all along), but instead just seeing where god takes me if i'm open to him.

and god gave me a wonderful blessing the other day...

i decided to take on a challenge of being one of the prayer support members for a men's retreat. i got together with a couple of other people during specific times to pray for the sessions, the leaders, and the hearts of the men involved. during one specific time, i started to feel that "sadness" that i mentioned above. i also got a sense of the particular individual that the sadness pertained to, and the words "boy pain".

so i met the symptoms with prayer. i asked for god to intervene and bring healing to this guy's heart in whatever the "boy pain" was about.

i left it at that.

a few days later, i felt like i should email the man to tell him what happened. i made sure he knew that i was new to this thing and could totally be off. he replied that he didn't know what it could pertain to, but that he would pray about it.

i left it at that. :)

well, here's the thing. god did something for him in the days that followed. i got to hear a little bit about it from him a few days ago...god was revealing himself to him...and revealing his "boy pain"...and was beginning to heal him.

i was so, so happy for him! still am! :)

and i was so, so thankful that god actually showed me how he could use that emotional sense if i was willing to trust him.

i'm telling you...the holy spirit is amazing!

in a conversation with my pastors on monday, i found out that this happens with others too! turns out that it's a different kind of discernment and very much a part of intercessory prayer.

so i'm massively excited!!! and now i'm out to learn more!! woo-hoo!!!