A Leper's Con

"Do you want to be made well?"

-That was the question that Jesus asked a sick man in John 5:6 and a question that I have had to answer myself when I felt Jesus asking it to me. I was not sick, physically speaking, like the man at the pool; I was, however, mentally and emotionally stuck in dark moments of my past. I let bad experiences chain me and keep me prisoner.

Why?

I guess that I wanted to be told that I mattered...and I wanted to hear that what happened to me was wrong. Most of all, I wanted people to know all the ways that I had been mistreated. I want my pain's weight in gold-validation. I did not like the cards that I had been dealt, so I played the victim card, thinking there would be a sort of lucky charm-ace-up-the-sleeve-pot-of-gold-somewhere-over-the-rainbow strategy that would give me what I was craving. What I got instead was more joker's toxic arrow-fool's gold -gloomy and doom sky-of emptiness. This touched every aspect of my life and costed me many years of missed opportunities. It cost me friendships and almost cost me my marriage and the enjoyment of raising children. I had conned myself by refused to let my wounds heal the right way. But I know that I was not the first and I will not be the last.

In the Old Testament every time a person would get close to a leper, they have to ring a bell and declare him or herself to be unclean. A label that meant that person was an outcast. There was seen as an abomination to God, stripped of worth, homeless, and force to live alone or with others like them. They become the sickness and marked with shame. So, it is easy to see why didn't want to live in sickness at all. If there was a cure, they would do anything to find it. When they heard of Jesus, they sought him out and many were cured.

Over time, people learned the empathy of Jesus; however, people also took advantage of others' empathy and aid.

The entertainment industry loves to sell a false sense of sympathy and many viewers eat it up especially reality-based shows. These shows cast people who are defensive by nature because they increase the likelihood of chaos and drama while marketing the hope for restoration or a happy ending; yet usually there is no positive resolution, only division in the end. Thus, the cycle of victimhood continues to shine in the spotlight.

Media is not so innocence either. They exploit allegations in the name of justice. There are those who are, honestly, trying to help a victim seek justice. Too often, though, they are only looking to increase rating or destroy the careers of people's ideology they don't agree or influences the outcome of elections. Thus the cycle of toxic mindsets grows at a rapid pace. People of one color turn on other. People of one gender turn on the other. People of one social status turn on the other. Etc....

Today, social media makes it easy for people to seek share their feelings, complain, gossip and formulate a surprise attack by a drone in war. What may begin as a vent or a story to help others who are going through something can easily become a web-like highway of destruction. Likes and an increase in followers demands a person to cave to an over-the-top dramatic performance.

Yet, this type of mentality has been around as long as the fairy legend of a short man in a green hat.

In fact, I like to call it a Leper's con.

What is a leper's con?

-It a victim mentality.

The world around keeps going on while a person with a victim mentality lives with groundhog's day syndrome. They are struck living in the same memory repeatedly.

A victim mentality focuses on what could happen because of something that did instead of what is really going on. Perception is tricky. It is like fool's gold. It appears real, but it is fake and it is not worth the price one pays for it.

Blessings remain in one's blind spot. A victim mentality robs a person of healthy relationships. A healthy relationship produces growth and makes people better; yet, it does this by demands that a person takes responsibility for his or her actions and learn from his or her mistakes. It advocates for maturity. With a victim mentality, it is very difficult to practice accountability learn or even make his own decisions. Never growing up, living in a fictional land and always trying to out run the shadows of the past. The truth is that adulting is hard. It takes a purposeful mindset.

This con the ability to create a false narrative on a small or larger scale. It is a spell that makes a paper cut feel like a stab wound. It bends reality. It inflates problems like a balloon. It creates hopelessness. It creates a shield that deflect blame while it takes power from the individual and gives it to others around them. This makes a person more vulnerable to being controlled by others who crave power.

Whether happiness is depending on how others treat them or how a government financial supports them, a leper's con traps many people with luring charms of luck or a pot of gold at the end of their troubles. But most of all, this con turns on the leper. The pursue for gold and magical charms can produce a mess greater than the mischief of a cute furball with large ears and eyes who was mistakenly fed after midnight. Its side effects are alarming. They include, but not limited to, a negative outlook, grumpiness, isolation, mistrust, bitterness, and jumping to conclusions.

What we have to remember is that our struggles are not with flesh and blood...(Ephesians 6:12) A leper's Con sounds a lot like Leprechaun. I believe that devil invented the leper's con. He was an angel cask out of heaven by a controlling father. He is bound to eternal damnation and it is not his fault that He must make human suffer. At least, that is what a popular app's show markets the devil to be-a victim. Although, the devil was playing the role of a victim since the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In fact, that trickster used its own self-pity to convince Eve to eat the apple.

The devil is like a leprechaun. He commits a lot of mischiefs. Lucifer promises god-like statuses for those who seek worldly pots of gold. He promotes the leper's con. He tosses thoughts coins of revenge, defensiveness, emotions, insecurity, and anything else to lure people into the trap of a leper's con.

"So, be alert...your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." -1 Peter 5:8

There are two side to every coin-heads or tails. This coin is in the palm of one's hand. A person may not have full control of what happens to his or her flesh. Everyone has plenty of power over his or her mind. She decides if they keep looking forward to what is ahead or if she got lost in the past forest searching her tail to make her whole.

I don't want to admit all the times when I went chasing my tail. I complained about everything, sought pity from others, missed out on a sweet pot of friendship, and isolated myself from social events because I was too afraid of being hurt again. After many exhausting years, I grew tired of making a donkey out of myself. I wanted to see life from the heads side of the coin.

Kings 7:3 "Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, "Why do we sit here until we die?"

Something we must change-the environment of our thinking.

How can our wounds heal if we continue to pick at them?

There is a time for everything... "a time to kill and a time to heal...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." Ecclesiastes 3

Even though, there are times when we will be hurt, times when we will cry, and feel the pain of lost, we must take the time to laugh, dance and heal. We must allow our wounds to heal and resist picking at them. We know that scratching an itch may feel good at first. But it only cause the itch to grow more powerful and harder to resist. An ugly scab is difficult to wear or even look at. Removing it seems like a way to get rid of it, but it usually causes it to bleed again and a new uglier scab takes its place. Healing can be an ugly process. But there is a rainbow after that storm.

We should not be afraid of scars They are beautiful and give purpose to pain.

Out of the greatest blessings that God showed me as He healed me was this: none of my pain and suffering has and will ever be in vain.

Now, as I look back, I see that none, I mean not even a crumb, of the pain or suffering I have endured was ever for nothing. God have used everything to make me who I am, scars in all.

It takes a brave soul to open the curtain and share his or her story with the world. It is not easy to look back and face it. With a full dose of courage and Jesus along for support, a person can share his most painful memory with others.

I am a huge fan of overcomers' stories. I long to listen as a survivor tells their story and how they were able to get through and even more those who share that they grew because of their situation. Those scar stories help others relate to those with fresh wounds. They need to be shared.

Every adult has a story. Every person has been a victim of a crime-either illegal or immoral. There is no doubt that we need to address our wounds. It is not healthy to try to ignore them. We must face the problem or problems. The way we treat our problems makes all the difference. We do this best when we focus on Jesus. He showed mercy as He lived in flesh and gave His live up, so God would have mercy on us. Forgiveness is easier when we realize that we have been forgiven. We must take the time to heal in the ways that is best for us. We need to pray and seek out other resources to cope. For example, therapy, writing, reading or a listening to music.

So, please do not misunderstand me. I am not making lite of being a victim. I am addressing the deception of a victim mentality. There is a thick wall between the two.

We must claim victory in the name of Jesus. Allowing God to fight our battles as we let go and get out of His way. As we do, we will discover healing and win the battle against the Leper's con. So, today, 'Shout to the Leprechaun: The Trickster of all tricksters. Lucifer, you have lost again. I will not fall for your con anymore. I am not my pain and it does not control me. I am a child of God and I reclaim victory over you through the name of Jesus Christ.'

After all, Jesus's mission was to help the lost, the hurting, the sick, and save every sheep from The Fall. Every person mattered to Jesus. He has the "Pot of Gold" that I was looking for and will be happy to offer it to you. I regret not realizing, I mean, applying that realization to my circumstances sooner because in Him I found restoration, I found love. and the strength to forgive all who had hurt me. I let go of labeling myself as a victim, but there are still times when I must fight out a pity party before it takes shape. I found the Holy Spirit and with God, I found the trust to let God justify what He sees fit.