I was pondering mold the other day – it and I do not have a good working relationship.  It’s a nasty fungus that grows in the dark and has been harboring in my body for years.  I am becoming quite the expert on mold, not by choice but by necessity.  Even though it’s been hiding inside of me for decades it has finally been brought out into the light and deposed. 

For years I have treated my body well, feeding it good nutritious food and vitamins yet I was always fatigued and could rarely sleep without medication.  I’ve been to countless doctors, both mainstream medical, homeopathic, osteopathic; I have tried naturopathic docs, chiropractors, acupuncture and sleep specialists.  Numerous times I would hear the phrase,

You are a most unusual case…

 Concurrently with all this I had prayed for myself, for wisdom in finding help.  I was prayed over by other people but nothing seemed to help my body regain energy.

Until… through a series of seemingly random events I discovered that my body was harboring molds – many strains of the toxic stuff:  Aflatoxin, Ochratoxin A, Gliotoxin along with many other nasty toxins.  Finding a doctor with the knowledge of removing mold from the body was a challenge yet I was led to a detoxification specialist living in the neighboring country of Canada, not far from my home in Michigan – Zoom calls are an amazing invention.

Then I got thinking about the similarities between the darkness of mold lurking in my body and the darkness of lies lurking in our minds – lies about ourselves, others and God.  Mold in our body and lies in our mind can often mimic each other.

Many lies are fed to us through unsuspecting people.  They come to us from our parents, our siblings, our enemies, our teachers and ourselves.  Some of them may be:

I’m too much to handle

I’m a loser

I’m not enough

I’m just a burden to my people

No one likes me (especially if they really know me)

God is disappointed in me

All I deserve are the crumbs and the leftovers

When those lies come to find a home in our mind, they play on repeat – over and over until they have carved a rut in our thoughts.  When the lies we believe become louder and louder, they can sap our energy because they make us feel like we are in captivity, sitting in prison with the door locked.  But, amazingly,  the door can be opened simply by replacing those lies with the truth of who God says you are.

I am chosen

I am a treasured possession

I am fearfully and wonderfully made

I am the apple of God’s eye

God loves me!

Even if I fall, God will raise me up again

I am redeemed

I am forgiven

If our self talk is anything less than what

Jesus says about us, we have misunderstood the Cross.

Rebecca Richardson

Lies we believe in our mind can be just as debilitating as mold in our bodies.  Ask me how I know, I’ve experienced both.  Many years ago I learned to detox my mind by believing who Christ says I am.  It was not an overnight renewal, but slowly and surely I was able to believe and live as if God really sees me as his treasured possession. Now – since I’ve discovered my body’s enemy – I am going through yet another detox. 

This detox takes time and patience – it is not instantaneous. I’ve been told it will take up to 18 months to clean out all those toxins. But my energy is back, I’m sleeping better than I have in years and I am able to walk and be off the couch, instead of the 4 to 5 hours a day I used to spend resting.

Thanks be to God for his amazing gift of healing on so many levels!