“Inside Man”

My husband and I have a good friend who is currently in jail after being falsely accused of things he did not do. Our friend is awaiting his trial and we anticipate that he will be found innocent and that justice will be served. However, as people who believe in God it is difficult to wrap your head around injustice or unfairness, big or small. Naturally, this got me thinking… We believe that God is in control but how can He leave an innocent man in jail? There is always so many debates that a conversation like this can take but the main thing I think of is what the enemy meant for harm God will turn for good – and I believe this truth with all of my heart!

But, there is another aspect to this. What if God allowed an innocent man to remain in jail for a time because He needed an "inside man"? Maybe God needed one of His own to be in a position to reach those that no one is reaching out to in an effective way. Maybe God trusted this child of His enough to allow him to be the one that is His "inside man" for a purpose beyond himself. Maybe an "inside man" is needed because no one else is going to the place that needs to see the love and compassion of God!

Think about this… Many go through difficult things that we cannot wrap our heads around. Maybe God is allowing something in your life because He needed you to reach those that otherwise would not be touched by His Love. Or, maybe you have been through something in your life that allows you to be someone with perspective that you would not have otherwise and now you are positioned to be the "inside man" that God needs to reach others! Never underestimate the effectiveness of the "inside man" that God puts into place.

Are you an "inside man" for Gods plan to reach others?

“Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast!”

Today I have found a new faith exercise… Something that I can focus on that will build my faith. As of late I have been having a difficult time with some things in my life as I have felt a little, scratch that, a lot shaken on every side. I got a little boost this past Sunday when my Pastor gave a great message on "discouragement"; of all things the timing could not have been better for me. I got another boost, when yet again; God gave me perspective on something through a movie. If you have seen the movie the title of this blog would have already shed light on my insight.

We rented the movie "Alice in Wonderland" and watched it earlier today. A very interesting movie, one I was not sure of going into but turned out to be quite good. Alice's father was a big dreamer and was noted for saying that he made a practice of "believing six impossible things before breakfast." Alice followed in his footsteps and was able to overcome by doing the same.

It is interesting to me that the Bible often tells us to remember what God has done. The instruction to remember is never a gentle suggestion more of a: "you must do this!" We so quickly forget what God has already done when we come to our next crossroad of needing to see Him come through again and again. By the time we are at another significant crossroad we have already forgotten His faithfulness. Thus, the faith exercise is to think of the things that God has already done in your life and be reassured that the thing you need to walk through right now will come to pass also.

For Alice, she needed to think and count aloud the six impossible things so that she could slay the jabberwocky. Alice thought of five impossible things that she had already seen and experienced and counted the sixth as the thing she was currently facing. The logic being that these five things occurred before so the sixth will be no different as they are all in the realm of impossible. The logic of faith and walking with God is the same and the instruction to remember what God has done in the past is significant to build our faith in the present!    

For me it goes something like this: One, getting to and going through Bible school both physically and financially. Two, meeting my husband and marrying him one year later, to the day. Three, giving birth to twins when I was never supposed to conceive or carry to term. Four, getting a much needed larger vehicle for a steal of a price and getting them to take my very old mustang at a steal of a price. Five, moving to Hollywood for my husband to return to school. And Six, seeing our next step – receiving the financial provision we need through being Realtors and the open door for my husband in the post production audio industry in whatever location God has for us to live in with incredible pay!

The five things and many others God has already come through for me. I know Gods faithfulness! The sixth thing is my current need and I can trust that God will be faithful here too as He has always been. What are the things in your life that serve as a reminder of God's faithfulness? What do you need to trust God for now? Think of your "six impossible things before breakfast!" God is faithful.

“Know Your Place”

As Christians I think it is sometimes easy to overlook or forget our true position in our good fight of faith. It is easy to fall in line with the message the world gives that we are unworthy with insignificant desires. As a believer we have been set apart, placed in a position of authority and no longer under our sin or shame. However, we continue to approach the Throne of God with the same timidity that we have been delivered from. As most often occurs I have gotten a glimpse of this truth through a film I enjoy; "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." I think a lot of the time our hesitation to approach God or even circumstances boldly is due to the fact that we just do not know our place, for whatever reason.

There is a scene in the film of "Prince Caspian" where the kings and queens of old approach the location where they are to gather and come up with their battle strategy. When the kings and queens approach, the Centaurs line up and raise their swords in a bridge to show respect for the kings and queens as they walk in. Prince Caspian being with them, who is also noble and called to do great things, hesitates to walk with the kings and queens. My thought is that the kings and queens entered in walking tall because they knew their place. Prince Caspian did not enter boldly or walk tall as he had yet to learn his place.

As believer's we need to know our place and walk tall, enter in to His presence boldly. God has called us His righteousness once we are in Him. He called us to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. We see many biblical examples of what it is to walk boldly with God yet somehow we minimize ourselves as not able to accomplish the same things that were done in the Bible. The reality is that Jesus has called us to do "greater things" in Him than we have seen in the Word! Doing some "greater things" will require that we know our place!!!

If we do not know who we are in God, what He has brought us out of, or where He has placed us, we will be very ineffective in the Victorious Life He has called us to. Sometimes I will take time and think of what I desire to do and then think of what it is that holds me back from doing it. One thing I know is that any time fear or a sense of inadequacy tries to creep in that, it is not from God and thus not something I should be carrying with me. As a child of God I am destined for greatness, I am called to come boldly, and I am told that greater things will come out of my life! Think for a moment what are the reasons that roll around your thoughts that ultimately keep you from knowing your place? What prevents you from doing the things you can only do from the position that God has already given you as His child? Know your place and walk boldly!

“Boldness”

Last week I did a little blog on confidence and shared some thoughts on Elijah. Well, ever since then I have not been able to stop thinking about the various aspects of the little bit that I explored. Isn't it just like God to show us that there are so many complexities and revelations that can come from His Word? Not only does Elijah have incredible confidence he also has amazing boldness! Confidence and boldness seem to go hand in hand but mostly they seem to be a very necessary component of those that walk successfully with God. I don't know about you but I want to walk successfully with God.

The portion of this Elijah story in 1 Kings 18 that has stood out to me is in verse 33-34 where he throws water on his offering. The reason this stands out to me is because in verse 1-2 we are told that "for a long time…the famine was severe." This tells me that the people are in a state of drought and lack, that resources were in short supply, including water! If you begin to think about the picture presented here, it is really of a man out of his mind pouring the last ounces of water that they have to survive on his offering… This must have stirred up significant commotion!

We go on to verse 36, which shares that Elijah did what the Lord commanded. Elijah poured the last bit of water they had, in the middle of a drought with no indication of when the drought would end because he was commanded to by God… Sometimes the things God commands of us sound or are completely insane! The underlying purpose in it all is for others to see God. Elijah's insane boldness was so others could see God. Elijah's boldness was simply him walking in obedience to God. Immediately following Elijah's outrageously bold obedience we see in verse 41 that heavy rain was on the way and relief from the famine was near! So often I think we are at a stand still waiting for God to move but really God is waiting for us to be obedient so that He can move!

There are many things in this portion of scripture that speak so much to us as believers. One of the major components that I notice with boldness is back in verse 22 where Elijah says: "I am the only one…" I think one of our greatest hesitations is due to the fact that we are often standing alone in a moment where we need to be bold. Elijah was outnumbered and alone but still saw that it was far more important to be obedient and to walk in boldness, so he did. Another major component with boldness is how much Elijah saw or heard in the Spirit. Elijah knew that God commanded him to do the things that he did thus he had to have taken time to hear from Him. Elijah heard the sound of rain before there was ever any physical evidence of rain; he heard the rain coming in the Spirit! Are we listening for what we need to be obedient to, are we hearing what God is about to do? Boldness requires our action! We have commands to hear so that we can walk in obedience. We have rain in the distance that we need to know is on the way to relieve our drought so that we can welcome the rain in the natural. We need to have our eyes open so that we can recognize our responsibility to act in line with what God is doing in each moment as Elijah did. Our boldness won't exist without our action! Be bold and walk successfully with God!

 

 

“Confidence”

Having confidence in God's abilities is something I have wavered in repeatedly in my life. Most of the time I believe in my mind that God can and will do great things in and through my life but there is a disconnect between my mind and my heart. Sometimes I sense fear or a wavering of unbelief sneaking around within me. I want to be fully confident in God's abilities all of the time but that is not always the reality for me and I think for most people. I desire to be fully confident in all of God's promises.

A great example of the confidence I long to possess is found in Elijah! In 1^st Kings 18 the Bible reveals the kind of confidence Elijah had in God. Initially, in verse 21 Elijah is chastising the people to make a choice – "either God is real or he isn't but whichever you believe live accordingly!" How often do we need to get our lives in check to live according to what we say we believe? We believe or we don't, there seems to be no gray area here. Really we are to "Be Holy as I Am Holy!"

Elijah goes on to challenge them in a "my God verses your god deal" of whose god would show up in fire first. Elijah is bold enough and confident enough to say "look, here is the altar with my offering on it. Not only do I trust God to show up in fire on my altar but I am drenching it with water and confident enough to know that my God will show up in fire and he will dry up the water that soaks my offering and is pooled around my offering!" Now that is confidence! In today's systems that would be like us saying "hey, I know I have no money, no job and I have no idea what next month holds for me but I KNOW that my God will supply ALL I need!"

Then Elijah in verse 36 begins to pray so that God would answer and the people would know He is God. Sure enough, exactly as Elijah knew that He would, the Lord came with fire. It took Elijah confidence and boldness, it took him knowing and trusting God without wavering… this is an intimate relationship with the Lord, this is what I long for. As believers we need to be this confident in the promises of God, we need to walk intimately with Him.

Without skipping a beat Elijah moves on to the next thing at hand as if to say "good, now that you all know who God is let's get to work because a heavy rain is on the way". Again Elijah is fully confident of what God is doing moment by moment. Elijah tells his servant in verse 43 to go look for the rain clouds but the servant sees nothing. Elijah's confidence is so great that what is seen does not move him, he tells the servant to go back seven times! Never once, was Elijah moved by the fact that what they saw did not line up with what he knew God would do. How often are we so easily moved by what we see and feel? We need this kind of confidence to rise up in us and I believe it will as we draw near Him!

Once the rain clouds were upon them Elijah still continued to move with the Lord, he understood what the power of God in/on him could/would do and he was ready to do it! In verse 45 it tells us that Elijah "tucked in his cloak and ran ahead of the chariot…" Wow! Elijah recognized the power of God and was ready to yield to whatever God wanted to do. Elijah took physical steps to yield to God's power. Are we ready? Are we confident enough to trust and rely on God? Are we bold enough to stay the course no matter what we see or feel? Are we walking intimately with the Lord so that He can work through us that others could see who God is? I long to walk as Elijah walked fully confident of who God is, fully aware of what God would do and completely ready to yield to His plan!

“Necessary Detour”

Sometimes in life we find ourselves in situations that are not pleasant in any way. These "situations" arise in everyone's life and they tend to be the last place you would ever choose to go on your own; yet somehow we find ourselves in them anyway. I have grown to call these times in our lives "Necessary Detours". Of course our first thought is, how could this undesirable and unpleasant experience be necessary for my life?!

Once again, great revelation flows into my life through a movie or TV… My children are currently very interested in the "Cars" movie, thus I have seen it countless times. The gist of the movie being a race car who wants to be successful has some issues, maybe inexperience or immaturity. The race car finds himself on an unexpected and unplanned detour as he accidently gets released from his trailer and in his effort to find his way back ends up getting stuck in a little town where he does not want to be. Magically, by the time he gets to where he initially intended to go, to become that star race car, he has learned what he needed to learn and others that needed to learn from him have done the same.

Of course, I have seen this in my own life, and I am sure you have seen it in your life too or maybe you have yet to recognize it. With infertility all I could think is, "I just want to have a baby of my own", "why is this so hard for me?", "why do I need to go through this?", or "why does it have to be this way?... I am sure there are many reasons to these questions we ask when we are in the middle of a place we do not want to be. One reason I know of is because it is a necessary detour! There were people that I needed to meet and learn from, a faith in me that needed to grow, my marriage that was going to be strengthened by it and a motherhood waiting for me that was going to be more enjoyable than I had imagined. In addition to what I needed out of my necessary detour there were people who needed to meet me in the midst of my battle, people that needed to learn from me during and after my battle, people that I would not have met unless I was on this necessary detour!

This topic of big picture (last week's blog) and necessary detour have been on my heart for a while and continues to be something of an important revelation that I feel compelled to share. What "necessary detour" are you on or have you been on? What magic does God need to work in you and through you in the midst of and following your necessary detour? Maybe we need to begin to trust God differently when we are in our necessary detours!

 

 

“Bigger Picture”

Lately, the concept of the "bigger picture" has come up a lot around me! It is one thing to see what the Bible says about our circumstances… For instance in Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him… It is another thing to realize how strategic God really is and how crucial it is for us to stay the course beyond what we feel in a moment of frustration or pain.

When I think of the years of infertility there is not one moment (now) that I regret anything I went through. There were amazing things I learned that I would not have learned otherwise, my marriage has a strength to it that would not exist, I mother my children in a way I would not have been capable of, and even my faith is different because of the course my journey took. The book that I am currently writing about Faith and my battle with infertility would not be possible if things did not go the way they did. I could have been quickly helped by a doctor and never known the difference, but I wasn't. The way my story played out occurred in a way that not only allowed me to learn so much, to be changed and touched in so many ways, but also allowed for others to be changed and touched by what God did for me. Granted, in the midst of it I am not sure I was too concerned with how others would be touched, but on the other side of it I am truly grateful that God had more than just me in mind!

When we are in the midst of something it is hard to see how we will get through it or what we are supposed to do and you can forget thinking of how it will affect others! When we are in the midst of it is when it is crucial. In the midst of trouble, God wants us to be the solution for freedom and breakthrough; if we give up because of our own frustration the answer would be lost. In the midst of struggle things do not make sense and it is easy to want to throw in the towel but hold tight, there is a purpose here and God has a bigger picture in mind.

Today I have been thinking of the friends I have around me that I can clearly see God working the same in them. What God is doing for them is about the bigger picture that surrounds them. One friend is at the tail end of her breakthrough and she is beginning to see how her journey is about to allow her to help countless other women who struggle daily with what she has overcome. God did not want to save just her, He wanted to save every woman that struggles the way she has. Isn't that the nature of God? He does not want ANY lost or left out! His plan has always been about the "Bigger Picture"!

 

 

“Timing”

I am a big fan of having my children on a schedule. I like schedules, they work; the kids know what to expect, it creates stability on a daily basis, and I can function at a happier level. I have boy and girl twins that were born six weeks early and thus spent two weeks in the NICU before coming home. In that two weeks of our NICU stay, I learned a great deal about schedules; how effective and how necessary they are. At my children's birth the schedule was a necessity for their very life but as they have grown I have kept the schedule and just adapt with their age. I have since learned that the schedule is crucial for all of our lives even as they grow older.

I had recently been complemented on how easy it was for me to do my daughter's hair. My twins are almost two and a half years old and my daughter was sitting still and letting me do her hair with no issues. The onlooker noticed and commented, "Wow that is amazing that she sits there and lets you do her hair." I, of course, said "thank you" but then began to realize that she sits still and lets me do her hair because I have timed doing her hair to fall in line with breakfast or a snack. When my daughter is occupied with food she will sit there and let you do anything. On the other hand, if I do not time doing her hair with food then it is a completely different story to do her hair… I have seen that as I follow the schedule of the day that all is well most of the time but when I do not, then all is more likely to be on the disastrous side of experience!

Life as a believer is much the same way. As we follow the schedule that God has for us things go relatively smooth, they fall into place and you sense the peace of going the right way in spite of anything that tries to set you back. But when we go outside of the schedule or timing that God has for us things tend to be more disastrous in our experience! There is a verse in Genesis 21:2 that talks about Sarah and Abraham receiving the promise of God "at the very time that God had promised". There is something necessary and effective about timing, something crucial for our lives where timing is concerned.

The issue of timing is a complicated one with many sides. One thing I do know is that sticking to the schedule is crucial for my life and even the lives of those around me. Just like I know the timing that works best for my daughter I can trust that my Father in Heaven knows the timing that works best for me. The promises we have yet to receive are on the way at the very time God has promised!

 

 

“Guts”

I have been thinking about courage and boldness on and off for a long time. Courage and boldness seem to go hand in hand for the people of God. Often we are commanded in the Word to be courageous as well as to do things with boldness. The concepts should be common place for us as believers, yet often we experience our hesitation when fear takes over. What does it look like to have courage or to act with boldness?

One of my favorite movies is "Transformers". There is a scene that occurs shortly after the character "Sam" discovers his car is alive. His car "Bumble Bee" battles a "Decepticon" and wins. Bumble Bee drives over to Sam and his friend "Mikaela" and opens the door. Sam tells Mikaela, "He wants us to get in the car". Mikaela replies, "And go where?" To that, Sam says, "Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?" This portion of the movie really makes me think. I want to look back at my life and say I had the guts to get in the car! In fifty years what am I going to look back at and see?

The interesting relation to a believer's life is that so often we are afraid to get in the car because we don't know where we are going or what the end result will be. The offer to get in appears and we let fear rule our response instead of realizing that a great battle was just won to save us! Just like Bumble Bee battled to save Sam, battles have been won for us as well and we're still afraid to get in the car… When, really, we should be afraid not to!

How much do we miss out on when we let fear take over and pass up the opportunity to get in the car? How much greater is the adventure we experience when we do have the guts to get in the car? I want to have the guts to get in the car when the opportunity appears. I want to know what adventure lies ahead. What do you want to look back on your life in fifty years and say you had the courage and the guts to do?

 

 

“Two Minute Forgiveness”

My two year old twins are the source of most of my entertainment, joy and even some life lessons. In our home we have been doing "time outs" for bad behavior. The famous time out rule is one minute for every year of age. Thus, whenever my kids misbehave they get two minutes in the time out corner. The time out technique has actually proven to be quite effective. Usually, my daughter gets put on time out for biting and my son gets put on time out for pushing or taking a toy from his sister, he is bigger and can easily overpower her. Surprisingly both of my children stay in the time out corner until the two minute timer beeps. We wanted to teach our children to say they were sorry at the end of the time out but found it difficult to teach the words so we have taught them to hug each other, or the one they hurt, at the end of their time out to say they are sorry. Now that we have perfected our response to misbehavior we have found some interesting insights.

One insight is the fact that as soon as the timer beeps they immediately go hug the other and simply continue playing like they are best friends. There is no holding a grudge or staying upset. What is at hand, their toys and play time, is more important than holding a grudge. We need to see what is at hand for us as believer's and realize that what is at hand is more important than holding a grudge or staying upset. We need to put into practice some two minute forgiveness and focus on the business at hand.

Another insight is that we often have to make sure the one that is not in time out does not go and try to play with the one who is in time out. It is amazing to see when my daughter is on time out for biting, that her brother will come over and try to give her a toy while she is on time out. The interactions seem to say, "I know you are sorry and I forgive you, let's just go back to playing together". The bite mark still fresh on his little arm and it is more important to forgive. No matter the scenario both of my children seem to forgive so quickly and go back to playing happily.

What if we were like this as adults? As Christians? What if we experienced an offense but then quickly forgave and quickly went back to interacting as if nothing was amiss? What if we implemented two minute forgiveness and got on with the more important things at stake in the Christian life? How different would our Christian lives be if we really forgave this quickly and this completely? We need to hurry up and deal with the misbehavior done to us with a two minute time out, quickly hug and say you're sorry and go back to the more important things at hand!

“Unspoken”

I was thinking earlier today about the times in my life when I knew I had a friend in my corner and how these moments have been incredibly significant in my life.

One of the most difficult times in my life was in the middle of my battle with infertility. My husband and I had been trying for a few years with medical help and still no children. We had finally made the decision to change doctors and that in itself was a leap of faith. We knew we were on the right path but never the less we were weary. Our first attempt with a new doctor and we got pregnant. We were overjoyed but nervous as we had been down this road before. We told a select few of the pregnancy and kept them posted on test results and outlook so that they could continue to pray. Unfortunately, we found ourselves grasping at whatever we could as unfavorable test results rolled in and another miscarriage seemed inevitable. I struggled to even go to a church service because I could not bear to see the faces of the friends that knew I had yet another miscarriage with no end in sight. How would I answer their well meaning statements of encouragement? How do I keep from crying uncontrollably? How do I keep the hope when everything looks and feels contrary to what I hope for?

Somehow I managed to attend a church service. In the midst of my crisis on this particular Sunday morning I found myself met with a friendship I will cherish forever. An experience that changed me, encouraged me, comforted me and even felt the pain with me. I went into church a little late to avoid any conversation before service and I sat near the back of the little church I go to. After the worship was over and people milled around to greet one another I simply sat down unnoticed as planned. The gesture of friendship that took place at this point is one of the significant moments in my life. Our friend simply sat in the row in front of me and turned around to reach for my hand, took hold of my hand and gave the most heartfelt expression I have ever seen. No words were spoken, no hug that would have caused me to burst into tears, no super spiritual insight, just a hand to hold and a sincere look that said everything I needed to hear. I think of this often as it somehow made the way for me to get past that day, past the feelings of discouragement and hopelessness. This friendship was something I could not live without.

One thing that I have learned, when it seems like nothing is going right, is that what you need can be given without a word ever being spoken. This unspoken moment of friendship fueled me with the strength I needed to keep going. We got pregnant the next round of treatment and I gave birth to my beautiful twins later that year. With deepest gratitude, thank you to our friend that left it unspoken!

“Value of Friendship”

Recently I was part of putting together an event for the Ladies Ministry at my church with the theme being "Pampered for a Purpose". I had the privilege of sharing the Word on the topic and it has been stirring in me ever since. A portion of the theme touched on how it is important to pamper ourselves emotionally and what that looked like in relation to our friendships.

It is my strong belief that we all need good relationships! Good relationships in our lives nurture, encourage, support, etc. and who does not need that? I was looking at Acts 2:42-47, this scripture mentions great things that most people long to see God do in our lives and in our churches. Right before the list of amazing things that took place the passage first mentions that they devoted themselves to fellowship – that is friendships were developed and cultivated! I have read this scripture many times and often pray for these amazing things to be seen more regularly but this was the first time I looked at it and realized that the things I long to see in and through God's people are hinged on the relationships we have with each other!

I began to look for Biblical examples of good relationships. What does a good relationship look like? I remembered Jonathon and David (1 Samuel 20:42) who swore friendship to future generations; this brings a whole new meaning to a "best friend". What is more interesting is when you look at who Jonathon is in relation to David. Jonathon was the son of King Saul, the man who was trying to kill David to prevent him from taking his throne. In spite of the drama that surrounded them, their friendship did not waiver - they did not allow the significant external influences to sway their commitment to one another. How many times do the petty external things ruin friendships?

I reflected on a couple more examples of Biblical friendships, which of course allowed me to see something more. I thought of Paul and Timothy. Paul often mentions Timothy in his writings as being with him and we see later the great things that Timothy does for God as well. I began to think that Paul could not do all that he did without Timothy's input, prayers, support, encouragement, or simple companionship! In turn, Timothy would not have been able to do what he did without his friendship to Paul. Another example like this is Esther and Mordecai. Esther had to rely on the good relationship and trust she had with her Uncle Mordecai in order to fulfill what she needed to and Mordecai would not have been placed where he was without Esther.

Good relationships make all the difference. There is something about the friendships we keep that impact our lives more than we think! We need to surround ourselves with the right people, to cultivate the Godly relationships that will make all the difference in our lives and in theirs!

 

 

“Vision from Battle”

For some reason television shows seem to help me with analogies that shed light on real life situations. Maybe it is a simple way for God to show me something because I can relate to it or understand it better or maybe I just watch strange shows but either way it brings me to a place of theological thinking at times. My most recent thought process was about the spiritual battles we face in life as believers and the issue of the necessities for these battles. One necessity of battle is the fact that we come out on the other side of the battle seeing differently, we have gained vision that we did not have before.

One of my favorite shows, "Alias", has an episode where Sydney (the main character) has to go to a fancy resort to find a resident there that is known to aid in the changing of identities for fugitives. Sydney goes to the island and finds the guy in question, figures out where his room is and goes there to get the new identity of the fugitive she is ultimately hunting. While Sydney is in the room a bodyguard walks in and finds her looking around. Of course a battle occurs, Sydney has to try and get through this battle so that she can continue on her mission. The battle Sydney is now in with the bodyguard seems like a huge inconvenience when the fighting causes her to crash through the wall. The bodyguard is now down for the count and what Sydney sees through the now, open wall is a surgery room where a new identity could be created and conveniently on a computer screen is the new look and identity of the person she was looking for, thus the answer to her search. Interestingly, if Sydney did not fight the battle with the bodyguard she never would have broken through the wall and would have never found what she needed to see.

Nobody likes to be in a battle! Battles are hugely inconvenient and always feel like they are in the way of what we are trying to do. However, the necessity is undeniable and the necessity of the vision we get from battle is huge! Sometimes there is no other way to see what we need to see without fighting a battle. We knock things over in battle, break through walls, and we uncover things that would otherwise remain hidden. Look back at battles that you have faced and think about what you see now that you never saw before that battle? Maybe you see friends that you did not know you had, or maybe you see strength in yourself that you did not know existed, or maybe you see a God who is faithful when you did not know that before… There is new vision obtained on the other side of those inconvenient but very necessary battles in our lives. Continue to fight the good fight and know that new vision comes from the battle!

“Try again!”

My son has a favorite book and a favorite story that he asks me to read him frequently. This story in particular is a little paraphrase of John 21:3-6 and Luke 5:4-6; where Jesus tells the fisherman to put their nets out again after working hard and catching nothing. Today for some reason this story struck me in a new way. The paraphrase tells how the fisherman caught nothing and that a man called from the shore and said "Friends, try again!". Of course when they tried again they caught more fish than their nets could hold… This got me thinking. How often do we do things without success and simply walk away with no result? Maybe the key is to "try again!". How often are we discouraged that the result is not what we had hoped? Maybe the key is to "try again!".

As I looked up the verses in John it reflects Jesus telling the fisherman to throw their net on the other side of the boat. Now human logic would say I have fished all night here on this side of the boat with no results what difference will it make to move over the width of my boat to try it again??? Here is the interesting thing; sometimes just a few degrees will make all of the difference we need. Maybe our "try again" needs to have a slight course adjustment. What course adjustments is God trying to instruct us on that we need to listen to and obey? It could be ever so slight, but it could change everything! With my fertility struggle it was to take a leap of faith and change doctors by going to a new doctor not covered by our insurance and of course the story that follows was success for us and a growing family…

I also looked up the verses in Luke that reflects the weariness of the fisherman but also reflects their obedience to instruction. This portion of scripture is where Simon explains how they worked all night without success but it also says in spite of that I will do as you say Lord, because you are saying it. How often do we feel weary and give up? How often does it feel too difficult to continue in the face of seemingly poor results? Maybe the key is this simple obedience in the face of our weariness, trusting God that as we "try again" the result will be abundantly successful.

Ultimately I have been refreshed with the blessing of my sons favorite little story book! Today I have learned that often I need to "try again", that I need to be on the lookout for the slight course adjustments that God is leading me to make, and that simple obedience in the face of weariness is ever so crucial! I am encouraged today to not grow weary while doing good. I am encouraged that God is always faithful and that He is helping me be faithful too.

“The Lord Willing…?”

I had the pleasure of speaking with someone this past week about the neighborhood we live in. In the midst of the conversation they asked if we had children and of course we are always pleased to say that we do. We, in turn, asked if they had children and the response is something that has kept me thinking for the better part of the week. The response: "we desire children but the Lord willing".

The statement 'the Lord willing' is often heard among people who believe. It is interesting to me how often it is said when really we should be aware of what the Lord wills is based on His Word. The statement the Lord willing is not so much a statement as it is a question. In most cases the statement of the Lord willing is a hopeful, uncertain question of: I hope the Lord wills because I do desire this but I am not sure and I am too afraid to ask Him or use my faith to overcome the obstacles that are likely in the way of the Lord's will.

We know the Bible talks about the desires of our hearts and how God longs to give us those desires. If we are walking with God why wouldn't He will those desires in our lives? My guess is that most of the desires in us were put there by God in the first place. There were very few times in the Bible where the will of God was unknown and most of the time it was not so much an issue with not knowing the will of God but an issue with struggling to do the will of God; thus the prayer: Not my will but your will be done. This prayer was prayed by Jesus before going to the cross; this was not a prayer said because he did not know the will of the Father, it was said because it was difficult to do the will of the Father. If the Bible tells us what the will of God is why do we struggle with it?

The answer to the question: the Lord willing…? Is YES, most of the time I do believe that God is willing to bless us with the desires we have in our hearts! With me, my huge revelation of this was in my infertility battle. When we first found out we were unlikely to have children we got many responses from people that it must not be God's will for us to have children… This was a crushing thought to me, but it led me to dig in to the Word for myself and find out the answer. Is it God's will for me to have children? What is your question? What do you need to find in God's Word to see the answer of His will? "The Lord willing" needs to transform from a question to a statement of declaration and victory. The Lord is willing to bless His children!

“Know Who You’re Fighting!”

I had another profound thought process while watching a TV series I like… There was an episode in the show "Alias" that had the main characters on missions to identify the players of the terrorist group they were trying to take down. The characters knew how many there were and where they were operating from but they did not know the exact players. Throughout the episode they were getting pictures of the various players in the group they were after and placing them one by one on a big board for all to see. The objective: getting the faces of the members of the group they are fighting. The purpose: so they can plan how to defeat them effectively. At the end of the episode they had all 12 faces of those involved and the closing scene is of the main characters knowing how to proceed now that they have the faces of the enemy group they are fighting.

We do not fight against flesh and blood but we still need to know the faces of our enemies. What does my enemy look like? I know that my enemy is a thief; he is one who robs me. What areas of my life (or your life) have I been short changed or am I being short changed when really God has a larger portion for me to receive? I know that my enemy's goal is to kill and destroy me or the God given destiny I have to live out on this earth. What areas of my life are being hindered when I know that God wants to move freely? Asking these questions is necessary to help identify the enemy in our lives.

Too many times I think we settle for some weak justification of why something is not working out. For example we say "well, it must not have been God's will" and this comes flying out of our hearts and mouths before we ever investigate in the Word or talk to God about what His will is! Maybe the enemy is on the prowl convincing you to back off with a road block. Instead of being so quick to justify it as "normal" we need to dig our heels in and look at the reality of our enemy. If we know that what is in our hearts lines up with the Word then we know we are in line with God's will for us. We need to be alert and wise to the devices and faces of our enemy. How is the enemy hindering what God wants to do through me today? How is my today going to impact tomorrow? I need to know who I am fighting so that I can recognize him when I see him and simply continue on fighting the good fight and keeping the faith, staying my course! The enemy has a face and for too long we have ignored it or justified it. We are equipped to overcome and be victorious in all things!

 

 

“Plan B”

I've been thinking a lot lately about the comfort of a "Plan B", mainly due to some details in my life that tend to focus on "Plan B". I have found myself a little frustrated but today I had a new thought. I began to think of some significant events in my life that gave me a renewed perspective on "Plan B".

I thought of two experiences I have had in my life. The first experience was about the beginning of my infertility issues. My infertility diagnosis was not good or hopeful for me to ever have children of my own. My husband and I prayed, looked at all the options, investigated, studied and ultimately came to the conclusion that we needed to decide what we desired to see God do in our lives. When we decided that we desired children there was no room for "Plan B"! Many suggestions were made for "Plan B" but none of those options were in line with my deep desire for children of my own. The "Plan B" options were not bad they were simply not what we desired. We made the choice early on that we were going to trust God and that there was no "Plan B". God did exactly as we trusted Him to.

The second experience I thought of was the few times I have had the privilege of going to other countries to teach the Bible or do some short term missions work. There was always one common thing that impressed me when I had spent time overseas, the people believed God with no "Plan B"! Most of the time there was no room for a "Plan B" they either had to believe God or die. They believed God and God always came through!

This thought process got me thinking that "Plan B" is something we should get rid of completely. I have noticed the times in my life when I thought "Plan B" was needed that those were the times I was not really trusting God at all. My "Plan B" was due to my own uncertainty of God's ability. Why would I need "Plan B"? Typically my "Plan B" has been thought of out of my own efforts in how I will fix it if "Plan A" goes south. My "Plan B" agendas were birthed out of fear that God would not come through on "Plan A". My new perspective – get rid of "Plan B" and trust God!

Maybe the faith I saw in others when I traveled was due to the fact that they had no room for "Plan B" so they trusted God completely. There was no room for fear or wavering or a do it yourself plan; only God and His faithfulness was free to move. I do not want to limit God's plan in my life by getting in His way with my "Plan B". It is time to trust God completely, letting go of "Plan B"!

“Fear”

A few years ago my husband and I were reading our Bibles together, one of those read the bible in a year deals where it splits it up for you to read a little Old Testament and a little New Testament every day. On this particular day we read about Moses and how he was giving all of his reasons for why he could not do what God was asking of him; then we also read in the New Testament about how Moses was raised. It was no accident for us that we would read the two sides of the same story on that day. And it was no accident that a huge revelation about fear hit us both simultaneously as we read! This revelation has stuck with me. I hear about Moses' "stutter" often and it always makes me think about how Moses must have felt when faced with the decision to follow God's direction or to hide…

The portion of scripture in Exodus 4:10-12 talks about Moses' response to God's request of him; it is most commonly and frequently quoted that Moses had a stutter.  However, in Acts 7:21-22 the Word tells us that Moses had an extensive education.  If you dig deeper we find that Moses had the best of the best education, the finest tutors, and was trained to be a very good and eloquent speaker.  So why is it most often said that he had a stutter????  When I saw the verse in Acts it hit me.

The Word says Moses was powerful in speech...  He was trained and acclaimed to be powerful in speech long before he tried to tell God that he was unable to speak!  In fact when Moses tries to tell God that he is "slow of speech and tongue" that was his fourth of five expressions of reluctance to be obedient to what God was telling him to do!!!!  How often do we do this?! 

The revelation I had is not about the truth of how Moses was raised but about the issue behind his excuses - it is fear!  Fear is what was keeping Moses from obeying God, it is what caused him to see himself as a man with an inability to speak even though that was so far from true, and it is fear that was generating all of his excuses.  Fear causes us to see things that really are not there and it causes us to act irrationally. What do we see in ourselves that really is not true?!  We are children of the King!  Children of the Most High!  We are called and anointed to be a blessing to everyone around us!  We are Gods Righteousness!  I could go on :-)  But think about it… What is our fear? Fear in general is an irrational beast, we need to see what the Word says about us, the real truth of who we are regardless of what we think we are or how we may feel!? 

 
 

 
 

“Blindsided”

I have not blogged in a while and I have missed it greatly. We were in the midst of a move, the holidays and honestly I was feeling like I was in a funk and just did not want to speak until I was over it. Then I realized that was what "Faith Walk" was about when I set out to do it. How do people walk in the middle of the difficult things? So here I am back to my blog!

I like the show "Alias", I even have all of the DVD's and I still watch them when the need to be reminded of adventure arises in me. I was watching one episode where things do not go as planned and one of the characters is losing it. "Sydney" the main character, simply explains: "We just got blindsided, and we dealt with it. But that doesn't mean we give up. It doesn't change who we are." Oddly enough this episode helped me put things in perspective.

It seems these last couple of months for me, even though they have been good, they have included a lot of the unexpected things in life. I was getting frustrated with it all. But, you know what? "Sydney" was right! I may have been blindsided, and I am sure anyone can relate to the feeling that goes along with dealing with the unexpected or how you feel when things just do not go the way you thought they would. Now, I just have to deal with it by continuing to run to God and trust Him that my life and circumstances are still in His hand. He is still in control and even though I was blindsided, He was not. The unexpected does not mean that I give up!!! The unexpected does not change who I am or the call that is on my life!!!

So here I am brushing the dust off and pressing in after the unexpected hit me a little. In the "Alias" episode "Sydney's" way of "dealing with it" was to kick some butt. Maybe we just need to kick some butt when the enemy tries to blind side us! God already promised not to leave or forsake me. He already told me that the Holy Spirit is with me to be my guide and my counselor. My Father already reassured me that I could confidently follow peace and confidently know His voice. My Father also told me that the Greater One lives in me and that the enemy runs away in terror when I resist him. Let's stop letting life's distractions or frustrations hold us back. Let's deal with it and know that the unexpected is not going to cause us to give up and it is not going to change who we are or who God is! Continue to press in to the things God has for you today; He is always faithful!