It was the dead of winter last year when the Lord was gracious enough to
teach me a couple much needed lessons on faith.
I pray you will be blessed when you finish reading this today….
After standing outside in the cold weather for over 40 minutes, the little
lady politely, or rather kinda politely, told me my paper work from this year
was going to have to be changed. This
meant a 45 minute delay because I had to run to the office where I could get the
right information required. Now, in being
totally honest with you guys, I was upset.
Because, I just knew that by the time I returned , they would have no
more availability and I would be delayed once more.
Now, I said all this to give you a little background as to why I
began to pray. I wish I could say that I
prayed honorably and patiently in the
Spirit; but at first, I was complaining.
Within a few minutes, God gently
reminded me that life is sometimes hard and most often we get ourselves in those predicaments. That thought changed my course of
action. All I could think of then was
just how good God was in allowing me to even HAVE the opportunity to meet with
these people. My past circumstances had
led to right where I was. It was my
mistakes that led me here. NOT His. And, even though I fail Him… he NEVER rejects
me. He will ALWAYS guide me in every
situation. He knows all my thoughts and
has me in the palm of His hand. As I
made to the other side of town; satan once more chimed in, taunting me …”This
place doesn’t open till 9… you will definitely lose your spot now, see, how’s
that new attitude working now?”
But, my Lord is bigger and HIS WORD
is where it is at!!! So, I reached for
the little pocket Bible I sometimes car.
Sitting there in the car waiting for them to open, I began to read and
pray that God would give me the guidance and answers I was desperately seeking
in ALL areas of my life: Finances,
health, family relationships, my friendships and most importantly, my walk with
God. What HE showed me was beyond anything I could deserve. There were three places He took me to …and I
would love now to share those with you…..
I began to flip through the pages
and the first one I came to was the passage of the woman with this issue of
blood. Now I have read and listened to
sermons on this lots of times. But, on
this particular morning, God, in His grace, gave me a new truth.
(And Jesus
immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him
about in the press, an d said, WHO touched my clothes? And his disciples said
unto him, “Thou seest the mulitiude
THRONGING thee, an d sayest thou, WHO touched me?” And He looked round about to see her that had
done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in
her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth and he said unto
her “Daughter, they faith hath made thee whole; go in peace and be whole of thy plague.” Mark 5:30-33)
Now, I have always seen this as a miracle and it still is; but, this time
when I read it I saw a truth that shed a light in my heart that I had never
picked up on before. Jesus said “Who
touched me?” and the disciples, like we
are many times , were oblivious- caught up in the commotion of life and
basically said , “why would you ask who
touched you when there are multitudes touching you Master?”. But Jesus KNEW there was something different
… her FAITH! WOW! I want to have that kind of faith. The kind that makes Him stop and take notice
over all those other people. Can you
imagine just how many people are crying out, talking to Him EVERY MINUTE OF
EVERY DAY… the number is not even fathomable.
When He is listening to all the prayers that go up; I wanna be that woman
so full of faith that He says “Wait, someone is talking to me. Who is that with so much faith, I want to see
and listen" … Oh that my Savior would say of me…" Your faith is what will make you whole” This has encouraged me to work at not wavering
in that same faith…
"If any
of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. BUUUUT let him ask in FAITH ,
NOTHING wavering. For he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind an d tossed: for let not that man think that he shall
receive ANY thing of the Lord. A double
minded man is unstable in all his ways".
James 1:5-8
The answers sometime are much easier than we could ever imagine. I tend to say
“Lord, help me know what to do”
But, often I have not really wanted to see the truth because of my own
selfish desires that may not be bad ones, just not what is meant to be. I don’t want to waver from my faith in HIM to
have faith in someone else. When I try
to lean only to what seems to feel right and ignore the Lord gently leading me,
all because I think I know what is best; I can’t blame God when hurt comes my
way. God will ALWAYS lead us… often he
speaks volumes in silence. When we have
searched and searched for God to basically sky write his answer to a certain
dilemma, we miss what is right in front of us in the small things… because we
waver… we want what we want and we get so scared to just trust that he may be
leading us to a new adventure away from
our comfort zone.
I know that I often have thought when I pray that I am praying openly to
God; that I am intently listening to His
answer. Even though I say, ”God, I pray for your will to be done” my mind and heart are wanting his answer to
be what I WANT them to be…. And even
though my desires may be good ones and totally what is natural to feel, they
just may not be what HE wants.
Often when I don’t see Him moving
in the direction of where my heart is, I think, ‘Well, I guess I will just stay
put because he hasn’t given me an answer yet’.
All because I am not getting the answer that I want. Many times I miss out on secret blessings
that He has in store for me; because, I
don’t close my eyes and look within and hear the words in his silent
movement.
Elijah was in danger and fleeing from enemies that were seeking to kill
him. Take into account he had just
witnessed the powerful hand of God set fire to a waterlogged altar and yet he
STILL was overwhelmed with fear and sadness that he prayed for God to take his
life. But our God is faithful. He sent an angel to minister to him while he slept and he made his way to a
cave and lodged there for safety. But
when God showed up, he questioned Elijah.
He tries to explain everything to the Lord but the WORD of the Lord was leading Elijah to come out and stand on the
mountain out in the open for his
enemies to see… wouldn’t you think twice?
That would be scary! Elijah didn’t immediately do this… he was still waiting for the Lord to SHOW up
in mighty way but the Scriptures says this…
“and a great and strong wind rent
the mountains and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was
NOT in the wind; and after the wind and
earthquake; but the Lord was NOT in the
earthquake and after the earthquake a fire but the lord was NOT in the fire
and after the fire, a still small voice and it was so when Elijah heard
it, that he wrapped his face in this mantle and went out and stood in
the entering of the cave and there came a VOICE
unto him and said.... “ I Kings 19:11-12
The same question came to Elijah from before; but, THIS time it WAS God
showing up and speaking to him. But, it
was NOT in a thunderous way; it was in
the small still voice. Only then was Elijah
able to have that whole conversation over again and find peace. (I kings 19:13-20)
He almost missed it by trying to find Him in all the loud and obvious places. But, because he took the time to listen to
God’s voice and not JUST look for signs and wonders to build his faith, he
found peace and ultimately victory. And
his ministry continued. He even came to
a place where he was able to humble himself and listen to Elisha, the younger
prophet of God…(I kings 19: 1-21) WOW… what a blessing all because the trial
and fear he faced was finally overcame through the small still voice of the
Lord.
I, just like Elijah, want to sometimes read God’s Word and be surrounded
with this burning bush type of moment to know what to do. But, oh, if I could just listen to that voice
that beckons me in the simple ways and truths that I often overlook because
they seem so ordinary. He has such blessings waiting on me; and
fear or lack of faith to chase after Him holds me in place; and, I will
never learn to truly hear the beauty of His answers coming in His quiet way.
I go back to James 1:5-8-- God can
not give me wisdom to know what to do if I only want Him to dole out what I
want to hear. That is selfish of me. Yes, he says that if we seek him and ask , it
will be given unto us… but, ask ye not
amiss!!! Many of us forget that last
part. Sometimes we want something soooo
badly that it seems like we just can’t get peace about it. We can’t move past
the fact that He has already spoken and said differently than what WE
wanted. We believe our intent is
pure…how could it not be…”Lord, I am asking for a good thing to be done; so why
won’t you give me peace about it one way or the other?’” And the whole time…he
already has tried... the answer has already been given.
Satan used what Eve knew to get her off course. Why would we not think he does the same to
us… “ Oh, well, now, that’s not wrong… you are asking for something honorable
so …surely He doesn’t mean for you to do anything about it” , this just adding
confusion to our plate. While the whole
time God DOES want us to make a move FORWARD in HIS grace and take steps to
better our walk and live within HIM. He
fills or lives with GOOD things the psalmist David says in Psalms 103 verse
5. But often, I don’t see them for what
they really are: and, I miss out because I am just not listening. It isn’t what I wanna hear. Sad, I know!
But, true …for many of us. I want
to hear His voice.
The world is so loud and it is
easy to think I hear Him in the noise of others because it seems like good advice
and sometimes it IS; but often it is tempered with human emotions and bias;
because, they love us and don’t want to see us hurt. Don’t get me wrong… Godly women are a major asset in this young
christian’s life; and, I listen and heed to their wisdom. But it is so important to take that sage
advice and couple it with your own study of the Word, bathing it in
much prayer, to find where God wants you to be.
His plan for me is different than
someone else’s. That is where I am going with all of this… Daily prayer and
studying of His Word is where it is all at.
FAITH, DILLIGENCE and a heart that is steady and open to listening …even
when it is something you don’t want to hear about yourself or your life’s
choice.
Just recently in my life I was asked a question...."Do you feel you
are right where you are supposed to be?" and trust me, the battle that has
been going on inside of me is EXACTLY where this study was born from. I wrestled with my Lord; because all logic
and reason were telling me that I needed to rethink the situation...but, God
just would NOT let me go anywhere else.
He had been working on me for a long time and the calling in my life was
Spiritually evident; but, not in my mind.
I was fearful. I felt so unworthy
to do what God was so adamantly telling me to do. I second guessed myself...and honestly I
STILL second guess ME...but, not HIM!
Everyone around me has said, are you sure it is God and not just you or the
devil luring you into something?
Believe me when I say this... I WISH I could have had him sky write my
answer, especially when I feel so unworthy of it all. But, one day, after much prayer and many,
many tears, the Lord led me to "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM
GOD!!" I surrendered my will to His
and no matter what I have to face... HE has me where He wants me and that my
friends is enough for me to take the leap of faith.
And in reality, it isn't much of a leap.
God doesn't ask much from us.
Just a tiny step. We don't have
to swim in the River Jordan as it is flooding… all we have to do is dip our toe
in the overflow!!!
And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and
the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water,
(for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far
from the city Adam, that is
beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people
passed over right against Jericho; And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the
LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites
passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan…
Do you get that? God brings the
water to YOU upon the dry bank... you don't even have to put your whole foot
in... it is your TOE people...your TOE.
TAKE A CHANCE on God! He will
always make it worth your time and effort!
The children of Israel walked across while God pushed the waves to the
side. I am sure they were scared to see
the waves beside them and above them; but, God had their back!! As their feet got muddy and maybe sometimes
stuck; they had to put a little effort in picking them up and walking on;
TRUSTING the water was not going to fall and drown them. Can you imagine feeling the mist off the wall
of water on each side? That is just the
way life is... just because we stepped out in faith once into the water doesn't
mean we don't have to KEEP walking in faith!
... Canaan was right ahead... the promise land full of blessings beyond
compare. Victory awaited them. It awaits you and I as well! So, come on out of the cave and dip your toe
in the water of an unwavering faith!
