THE GREAT POWER OF THE DISMISSED

Removing assumptions of myself

• Psalm 139:14: "I will praise him, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..."

  Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now, no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

• Holy Spirit often gives me titles or subjects to write about. He dropped this phrase into my spirit a few days ago: "The great power of the dismissed". To me, that resonated with me, as I am someone who has long felt invisible, not empowered by the hard-driving forces of the world. How can someone like me be both "powerful" and "dismissed"?

• Holy Spirit speaks of the power of the Spirit, that invisible force of God that makes things work. Holy Spirit is gently, gradually nudging me off the cliff of holding too tightly to troubles, to worry, to being doubtful, to being anxious, despite the myriad times God has cared for me. WHY am I so stubbornly holding on to that which does not feed or help me? I guess it could truly be force of habit and fear!

• God, Whom I call " Stealth Papa", has once again surprised me. Even while Holy Spirit gave me the title to this piece, I assumed this meant I was being dismissed by others.

• Well...God headed me off at the pass again, as I realized that I was essentially dismissing MYSELF for decades. I have had repeated personal mind-quotes of " I cannot", " I am not worthy", " I don't even get out the gate!" This self-recrimination is not a good idea and I am a rueful example of that...but also slowly coming up and out of the mire, with the excellent merciful hand of God.

• I do have to wonder WHAT is this great power of the dismissed? Holy Spirit does sometimes speak in a circular manner, asking me to dig into things, look at scripture and actually ask Papa God, "what does this mean??" I do sit down with God every single night with pen and notebook, pouring out my heart to Him, writing down what He tells me in response. It actually builds fellowship and relationship, which is the opposite of "religion". No, this is FAMILY, as God calls me "My Daughter". Wow, perhaps that is part of that "great strength of the dismissed", to simply sit with Papa and discuss, as one would with their earthly parent or close and trusted friend. God knows things I do not!

• While the world does indeed dismiss people regularly, that does not require us to acquiesce to that dismissal. We actually can refuse to accept this.

• I am a top graduate of the “School of Hard Knocks”, a well-practiced purveyor of Street-Smarts. I have learned survival day by day in a pretty primal way, the old- school way, called "learn by doing." It has worked as a core method for me since my youth and I am 72.

• It does appear that millions of us survivors are "dismissed " as not intelligent or uneducated and useless impediments. I am not allowing myself to be educated to believe "right is wrong", " up is down", "men are women" and "good is evil.” I am not joining that unpleasant party, as I have already observed how that party ends: sorrow. I used to follow this many years ago and gradually found it to be something that did not help or nurture me. I watched beloved friends die of it. I grew out of it and also returned to my Christian faith after years of useless rebellion.

• The worship of the material world is focused on anything but the spiritual. It is money, power, influence, social appearance, accumulation of human accolades. While it is nice to have "things", not one penny can you take with you when you leave this world. Only the wealth you have accumulated in the spiritual realm of Heaven is eternal. That is what I seek, an eternal reunion with God and His Son after this earthly life is over for me.

• I have never had power, so I have no experience in how it works. I have experience in practicality, in survival, in seeing opportunity hidden in plain sight, in seeing resources that others do not see. When you have lived "on the edge", that most certainly sharpens your vision, both outer and inner. While high college degrees can be a very good thing and I am not opposed to a Bachelors, a Masters or a PH. D., I can also appreciate the hard-won knowledge that comes directly from experience. I have absolutely found that one learns more in a couple of weeks on a job, than a pile of books alone could tell you. "Direct mess" I call it and it is quite true. Concepts and ideas are wonderful things. I am both a sensitive soul/empath and also an intellectual who enjoys book learning and the wondrous realm of ideas. Humans, however, are messy. They do not fit easily into categories or boxes. When people like myself are pushed to "fit in" or temper myself to be flattened by the demands of the world, I begin to fade. This is my heart's cry, to LET ME BE.

• I am accustomed to being in the background and I am not a seeker of human power. Just to have some honorable sense of my own well- being is enough for me. Serving as a conduit for the transforming love of God is a gift God gave to me, along with the gift of words.

• .

  I am content to remain on the "back-forty" and to be the clean-up crew after the forefront has departed. I see the forgotten details left behind. I tell you, there are GEMS left behind and I am one of them! Perhaps YOU are also! God knows, just ask Him! He has wondrous gifts for you, if you will partner with Him and His Son.

  Wendy Elizabeth Williams December 20, 2024

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