I don't know how many of you have read the story that has peppered the newspapers, but there was a woman who was kidnapped when she was 11, and has now been located some 18 years later. So many emotions flooded my heart, as I read her story. But one thing stood out that gripped me: a psychiatrist said that she could have easily been brainwashed or experienced "Stockholm syndrome" which causes a person to become emotionally attached and even defend the person who abducted and harmed them. And it can take as little as 7 days....7 DAYS! Can you imagine how much time it will take for this innocent woman to become re-oriented to who she was/is?

How long will it take us to be re-oriented and rehabilitated to who we were originally created to be: Children of God who walk with Him? I mean, that's who we were/are. And yet this world, the flesh, and our enemy, the devil, have kidnapped our thoughts into doubting God's goodness, grace and deep deep love for us for years! We've been deceived into thinking that it's all about me, and the part about walking with God is a distant memory or maybe washed right out of our minds completely. Anybody been disoriented? Brainwashed? Lost your true purpose for existing?

It's going to take time, love, and hard work for this young woman to retrain her mind to the truth. And for you to be retrained to walk with God will take time, His love, and hard work It will take resolve to discipline yourself to practice His presence and learn to engage God 24/7 as you walk through life. God's Word tells us to "work out our salvation", because "no eye has seen nor ear has heard, nor mind can conceive what God has in store for those who love Him" .....for those who walk with Him. He desires to love us back to the truth: we were created to walk with our Creator and allow Him to reveal His deepest and most precious promises and purposes for us.

Would you go on the journey with God to do a deep work within you to re-orient you to your original purpose: to walk with God? Come to Him in reckless abandonment.....in sweet surrender to His will and purposes for you. Ask Him to help you become aware of His presence throughout your day. Ask Him to give you big ears to hear Him and a heart of obedience to follow by faith. And then look. Be still. Listen. It won't take long for your brain to remember: hey, this feels like home!

P.S. And just for us married folks: has life caused you and your spouse to lose each other even though you live under the same roof? Has the busyness of life brainwashed you guys into forgetting the marriage and the love God gave you for each other? Maybe it's time you set out on a journey to become re-oriented to each other. Maybe it's time someone took a step towards the other to re-connect. It will take time, God's love flowing through you, and hard work, but it can be the most fulfilling relationship on earth. Would you be willing to take the first step in the process?

Dale and Jena

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