A great distance away

Ever have those moments with the Lord when He is showing you something so big, so beyond you, that you better remember this moment. You better write it down and set it as a milestone for you to look back to later. I have had many moments like this lately regarding the same request. I just know that as I'm reading my heart feels like it is about to explode because I know in these moments He is already answering me. Amazing. So humbling. Now I just have to wait for the answer to actually come. It scares me to death as it should. It is so far beyond me and what I know I am capable of.

That's the beauty of the Lord. To work something in us SO much bigger than us that it can ONLY be Him. I am finally done with Priscilla Shirer's One-in-a-million. Goodness knows I did not pick that book up by myself. I was led to it. That was a hard call to stop being so scared and start believing now before God gives it to you. I got it. LOUD AND CLEAR!

I wanted to share this excerpt because I think for so many of us, we feel this on a daily basis. We want to give up. We want to stop killing ourselves, pressing so hard, squeezing the life out of ourselves instead of the life out of our day. But the Lord was good to remind me that just when you want to quit and throw in the towel..... Just when you start believing that "everyone is probably right...I am crazy to think that I could do this" it is just the enemy feeding us the ever popular way he always does. With fear.

2 Timothy 1:7- For the Spirt of God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.

1 John 4: 18- There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

I'll give you a summary. She's lead us through the wilderness with Moses. Moses dies then a new leader leads the people into the Promised Land. Joshua. A fearless, courageous, confident man. A one-in-a-million. The people are led to the banks of the Jordan about to cross over into the Promised Land. They stand with the ark as water slaps the shore. Nothing seems to happen like it did at the Red Sea.  The waters did not part like the people saw them part before.

Here's the excerpt. It speaks for itself:

Joshua called the people to consecrate themselves BEFORE the miracle. To be set apart today in anticipation the God would perform tomorrow. It's one thing to change to way you're living AFTER God parts the Jordan. It's another to do it while the waves of your problem are still crashing around your feet as you stand on the shore....

At first it would have appeared as if nothing was happening since the water didn't immediately divide right in front of them. But what the children of Israel didn't know as they craned their necks to the north was that far upstream God was already working His miracle for them. Though the roar of the current continued to drown out conversations, clearly mitigating against a mass river crossing, "the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan" (Joshua 3:16). Adam was 30 miles away. At this place, far out of sight, the Jordan was even then starting to become a dry riverbed. It was going to take a little while for the runoff to spill through at the Israelites' downstream location, but the miracle was already in progress.

From your vantage point you may not be able to see how God is going to work out His purposes in your life, the ones that seem far away and impossible to detect. You've gotten your feet wet....But be convinced that eventhough God may be working "a great distance" away, He is working. He has not forgotten His promises. He has not run into a snag that may prevent Him from following through. Be assured that God will carry out the miraculous plans He has for you.

One Nation

I am not about to start getting on the political bandwagon despite the approaching election. The picture I posted Friday about embassies under siege truly saddened me. It mapped out all the ones under attack right now. It is a stark reminder that our world is far from perfect. It is violent, sick, and down right disturbing. The picture woke me up a bit and for anyone it should.

So hang with me for a minute before you decide to click off this and read what you're looking for. What pleases you....if you will. Isn't that why we log on most of the time. To check our awesome status, to see who liked it or made us feel like we mattered by commenting. I'm not making fun....obviously I am guilty too. But what is our motivation behind this. To take a few brief seconds to see what's going on and who cares enough to notice right?!. Again, referring back to the embassy picture reported by CNN....it was a scary reminder no matter the content of the picture that we are in trouble. We have been for a while. Let's just remember that in the middle of status post and scrolling through articles, yahoo, and going through our day that this little world we create for ourselves, can be torn at any minute. It is worth our time and effort to stop and pray about it. We remembered 9/11 this week. Doesn't seem possible after that day, that we could be sitting where we are still enjoying so much. But with it we are reminded that it all could change in the blink of an eye.

My prayer as we get closer to November is this. That we would be reminded to not be more caught up in the platforms, speeches, parties, promises, and the candidates. If we think for a second that they will solve our problems, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. There is not a party or a person that could pull us out of the mess we are in. As the US or as the world. We desperately need to stop bashing and tearing down, because that is a competitive frustration that will only divide us. We need to look into the root of the REAL problem and realize that God is the only one who knows the outcome, so we need to start asking him how to steer this country and its leaders.

America was not formed without this kind of direction. Take a dollar bill. "In God We Trust." We better. If we have any sense left. We need to look back to the roots and hearts of the people that started this country. I got the honor to visit Mount Vernon (home of George Washington) a few years back. It is beautiful and historic. It is the one place that I want to go back to someday. I've never known such a peaceful place. It is refreshing to walk around the grounds (especially in the fall) and imagine all the decision Washington made that had never been made for us as a nation before.  To know that he fretted and stressed and prayed over such decisions.  It was down right humbling actually. Standing in his study next to the desk and chair where some of these probably took place, I realized that after all he was just a man. Who needed direction. Needed help. Needed guidance and had everyone's opinion left and right. He was also someone who prayed. Thank God he did because I do believe it made our start and success firm in the beginning. The peace I felt that day was all too familiar to me. It was a place full of past prayers and hopes and vision.

There is no doubt in my mind that we are far from that now. But we are not as far as we think from the change we need if we act on it.  Please remember to pray and ask God to guide us as a nation. Pray for our leaders. They are still human and they can be reached be a mighty God. 

Fear

Goodness knows that fear can get the best of you if you let it. Fear takes a hard root. It is the driver of anger, regret, worry, rejection, loneliness, bitterness, and well......________________......you fill in the blank. Often I think that I avoid it but the real reality is few of us slow down enough to face it head on.....grab it before it grabs us and takes us over. I read the quote below tonight, but in my nature I rewrote the ending. The first will be the original, then my alternate ending.

Original:
I must not fear.
Fear is a mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.                    Frank Herbert

That ending was just far too depressing. So here is mine **:

I must not fear.
Fear is a mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
**But it will not consume me.
I will not be so afraid of fear that I refuse to learn what it has to teach me about myself.
Or rather what God has to teach me about myself through it.
Processing fear is necessary so that it does not limit me, hang me up, or block me from becoming everything that I am supposed to be for the time God has put me here.
Fear will not leave me in the wake, but rather I will wake up to it.
I will be courageous as I have been commanded. (Joshua 1:9)
Face your fear and you will soon realize it was not bigger than your God.

Some other quotes that had some truth to them:

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.      Bertrand Russell

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.    Eleanor Roosevelt

Right now I am also reading Priscilla Shirer's book One in a Million as well. It beautifully couples lots of echoed thoughts subtly and not so on fear as she talks about our journey through "our wilderness" on the way to the promised land. Lots of times she makes references that reminded me that really we don't do what we are intended to do with our wilderness and rob ourselves of the promised land with distractions and laziness. Ouch!! Thanks Priscilla. Isn't that just fear acting out. Fear that we missed the boat, missed our chance and now out of fear....somehow we have to make up for it. It's like trying to scratch our way up a vertical canyon wall. God's got us and He is going to provide and take care of us. Trust Him in the wilderness periods too.

I figured that if I battle fear this much someone else needed to hear this. The main thing to understand is that everyone deals with it. We might say it is with silence or others with self absorption, but it is there.  Anyone who says they don't is lying.....or not going through it right now.  Fear is one the ugliest things we battle because it takes so many different forms. Comes at us in disguise of something that looks like jealousy, pride, selfishness, or the like. It is really just fear rearing its ugly head. But again, I would go the step further. While fear of God builds our awe and reverence of Him and is necessary, who else knows where to hit us and exactly how to make us scared and make our skin crawl. You bet. Satan. And he has our "number and address" as Priscilla says. Hmm. Doesn't that make you a bit angry. That our wall can look so awesome with our sayings, and post, and stories and plaques and decor, but Satan sees exactly how he can crack us. And away he goes. Swinging whatever hammer he wants and not caring about the damage.

So my question for me and you is this. Knowing who roots this type of fear and who uses it so lethally against us, starts to shed a little light. It starts to make sense when we fall when we have done nothing to fight to stand. Done nothing but say we are busy and don't have the time to deal with it. Really? Ummm...Satan has time to attack YOU specifically but you can't make time to fight. Well then you better ready for attack when your relationships fall apart, but your facebook account appears intact. DO SOMETHING!!!  It makes me want to, as the above states, FACE IT. So that it no longer can be used against me. It makes me want to take the time....regardless of how long it takes......to get rid of it. Stop and give it the look it needs so that it is put back in its proper place and fears are left at the foot of the Lord. Where they belong. It is there we pick up his perspective and hope for us. And learn to manage what the enemy would use against us. It also reminds me to be ready for the battle, because if satan sees "the crack in the wall" and knows where to hit me....I better be ready with my fighting gear. Here's just a few......

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Psalm 56:3
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Fear you ain't got nothing on God. Psst. Hey Satan you lose in the end.

Be silent, Be still

At the risk of reminding a lots of my Wayland friends of a long retired, easily repeated movie......  here goes! (This ones for you Leigh!)
She's all that.....Rachel Cook walking out on the stage in a skin tight white body suit calming the disturbing scene that just took place. The weird stand up performance....am I recreating it for you yet? If not it is ok. But her line is basically, "Be silent. Be still." I'm so reminded of this today as I have just been lost in thought. So lost at times that it is confusing and you wonder how you got so far down a road of thought and you start backing out and tracking it. As if that works. Usually I wind up more confused or it leads to another fork in the road.  The Lord was very faithful to remind me that we are a society so lost in thought sometimes that we cripple ourselves instead of simply doing what we know. Being who we need to be without having to think about it. Sure every one of us probably has had to take some "me time" to think and recall and process certain situations or circumstances. Things that are important enough to think about. The most important thing sometimes is to just be silent though.

I have such great friends, Jody included, who just listen. They let me process or rather just tolerate me sometimes. But for them I am so thankful. In a sense they are helping me figure it out and get back to helping others instead of spending time on me. After all, I think it is funny when I get frustrated with myself for needing this time to process but in reality it is imperative. Some of are most important decision are worth the time. I need to be patient with myself as well. I am willing to do it for others but I do not extend that to myself very often. So for my reminder today I was inspired to write again for something I think is beautifully crucial. You can "Be silent, be still" all you want but I like this ending much better.

Be STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD.    Psalms 46:10

Yes! That is a place where all the confusion is lost in the "does this really even matter." No it really doesn't. Sometimes in this world of me and self and "I commit to this and that" or facebook and twitter.....we forget....I forget. All of the wrestle is life. It is fun until we start carrying more than we can stand and thinking that it has something to do with us. That breath of "be still and know that I am God" is my reminder that (goodness knows) I can be lighter than I am because I picked up too much and think that it depends on me. Thank goodness. Be still. That is a crucial place and ACTION. Be still and Know. A crucial mindset. Be still and KNOW that I am God. He is so wonderfully patient.