Unveiling Hope

The Battle is Won

If a person’s ears are tuned to hear the voice of God they will hear the sound of the trumpets warning of a battle to come. This is the time to seek His counsel as King David often did, “Should I go up against them? Will you give them into my hands?” David sought God’s counsel before making any moves knowing full well that his enquiries would be answered.

Some of us are not so adept at hearing God’s voice; we’re still practicing, still unsure, or perhaps we are slowly moving into a place where we are learning to trust Him enough to seek His wisdom, counsel and protection.

Too many people believe that every battle is of the enemy; this is not the case. God will send us into battle from time to time, but rest assured that when He does He had ordained us for victory. He is for us and not against us. God will never send you into a battle that you have no chance of winning. He is the Commander in Chief and it is for this reason that at the sound of the trumpet – or when we find ourselves at the centre of the battlefield – we must seek Him and not move, nor be paralyzed by fear, until we are sure we have heard His answer.

Can you hear the trumpet sound? Can you hear His voice? Do you trust that He is for you and not against you? Remember this: if God sends you into battle the battle is won.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Isaiah 43:3.

Storms

Every life is upset by a storm now and then. We all have different ways of weathering them.

There’s a bible story of Jesus sleeping in a boat during a treacherous storm whilst His disciples panic over the danger they find themselves in. They waste little time in waking Him in order for Him to save them before they perish. These are the same guys who had seen all the miracles had He performed, the same men who had confessed Him to be the Son of God – yet, they still panicked. I’m glad for that story because I seem to spend a ridiculous amount of time chastising myself every time a storm in my life rocks my boat so, I figure I’m in good company. Surely they asked themselves the same questions I ask myself: don’t I know what He is capable of? Haven’t I had enough proof? How many times will He need to save me from peril before I get it?

The thing is – I want more than that. I don’t want to weather the storms, ride the waves, or be the survivor of a supernatural search and rescue. Neither do I want to be heroic and face the eye of the storm – I’ve had plenty of adventure in my life thank you very much.

This is my desire for the next storm: I want to cuddle up with Jesus under that tarp – no life jacket – just Him. I want to close my eyes and smell the rain. I want to feel His warm arms around me as the wind tries to pick me up and carry me off. That’s right. I want to sleep through the next storm not as a way of avoiding it, as a means of dealing with it!  My plan is to see the next storm as a calm reflection on the sea, like a mirror of light dancing across a few ripples. Can I do it on my own? Of course not, but with Him … anything is possible if one believes.

My Secret Pain Exposed on Oprah?!

I believe that everything happens for a reason and in God’s perfect time no matter how wonderful or devastating it might be. Just this morning I felt that obsessive urge to start looking up various genealogy sites, graves markers, and hospital records - as I have done for an unfathomable number of hours in the past - in the quest to find out who I am. Merely touching an old photograph can set me off; each time an entire weekend is wasted believing that this time I will stumble upon what will change my life and don’t, I promise myself I will never again pursue the quest again.  Imagine my surprise today when I saw parts of my life story being narrated by Lady O herself only hours later.

Oprah introduced the world to her half-sister Patricia today. Patricia’s story was one that resembled a story of my own. She so aptly described the shame of walking around feeling incomplete and abandoned. It’s something I rarely talk about because, as a believer I feel an additional burden of shame because I convinced myself that as a believer – with the Spirit of the Most High God Almighty living inside me – I must be grieving Him each time I admit to feeling incomplete? Yet, the ignorance to one of life’s most basic questions, “who am I” plagues me far more than I ever imagined.

“I know those feelings.” I thought to myself as I listened to Patricia speak about wanting to feel complete – about wanting to leave a family legacy to her children – a connection to someone else on the planet. She spoke with a firmness of attitude when describing, so aptly, her faith that God would – one way or another – answer her prayers and fill that void in her life.

It sounds so cliché to say you had a “aha moment” watching the Oprah Winfrey show, but I did. I believe that every person on this planet who doesn’t know God has a hole – an incompleteness about them. Some call this the God-shaped hole. In my errant thinking I believed that if I really knew and loved God that should be sufficient and He should fill that hole completely – no questions asked. What I learned today was this: it is possible to have more than one hole in your heart. Only God can fill His place – and does, but when we trust Him with the other holes He fills them in His perfect timing. 

I Heard You

I heard you last night. Through all those tears and all the words you choked on – I heard you – I heard your heart. My desire has been to hear your heart for as long as I can remember.

Oh, I know you’ve spoken to me many a time. I don’t discount any of what you’ve shared, not ever. I realize you’ve shared before, you’ve confessed many things to me. You’ve cried, you've told me your dreams and yes, you’ve even told me what frightens you. But last night was different – you know it was too.

Last night you brought tears to my eyes. Somewhere between your disappointment, your fear, and the dreams you’re afraid to dream was your heart – stripped bare and surrendered to me for the first time ever. You spoke to me and then you waited for me to answer and you listened. You really listened! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to tell you how very much I love you?

You said that you’ve never been able to go to “that place” with me for fear that you’d experience so much emotion that you’d explode, lose control, even die a little inside.

But you went there anyway and you went there with me; you went there for me. You let me in to that place in your heart where only I could fit –  a place where the only one ever meant to fit was me. Last night you gave me your heart and I promise I will not break it. You went to the place where I’ve already been for you.

I can’t promise that life will always be fun and filled with laughs, but it sure will be different. No matter what you go through, from now on, whether good or bad – we’ll always be there together. I can’t promise that you’ll never experience pain again, or that everything you don’t like about your life will be instantaneously changed for the better, but I can promise this: you’ll be transformed – from the inside to the outside. I’ll give you a kind of peace that surpasses any experience you may encounter. I promise that if you follow me, I will always be at your side – always and forever. I heard you.

 

Arise

 Have you ever had one of those rests where you know you rested well, but you want to stay in hibernation? 

I took a break from blogging, any many other things last November, because I really felt that I was being called to do some intimate relationship building which, in my case, required a significant amount of time, and my complete focus. 

I have lived wrapped in the shadow of His wings for the last six months and I can’t think of any place better to exist. I didn’t stop taking care of my family and I didn’t stop working. Though I was, for a period, in hibernation – I was never is isolation. We were made to be in communion – first with Him and then with others.

He has taught me how to be in intimate relationship with Him every moment of every day no matter where I am or what I am doing. This had been something I had been crying out to Him about for a long time. Imagine calling a significant other, a parent, or a good friend and saying “I need you! I want to spend time with you! I feel unloved and ignored! Please help me! Please spend some quality time with me!” Now, imagine if they respond positively to your request – they are thrilled that you’ve called on them – but every time they invite you, you’re already busy… Who suffers?

Someone recently commented, “I wish I had the time to be intimate with Him for six months.” Ah, hold on a minute, friend. You do. When we “live” in the world, it seems that the greatest complaint many believers have is a lack of time to devote to being with the One who made them, the One who made their time. How easy it is to forget that we were made to worship Him. We were made to bring Him glory. We were made by Him and for Him; how can we not make time to be in an intimate with Him? He made our time, but we are given the choice as to how we will use it. My relationship began to suffer when I found myself trying to “fit” Him into my schedule. I invested time in my relationship (what I felt lead to give) and He’s been blessing me with dividends on my investment ever since.

During these last months, I feel as if I have fallen in love with my Lord. Suddenly, all the things I used to cut short to squeeze Him in seem insignificant in light of our rekindled love. I still have time to do all that needs getting done and if something doesn’t get done, then I have no doubt that it never needed doing in the first place.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matt. 6:33 ESV.

Bad Seed Grows

I’m not much of a gardener. I love gardens; I just don’t have the patience to wait for growth. I have a tendency to focus on the weeds growing while I’m waiting on the good stuff.

I have this mental picture of the “old” me – a garden of sorts – filled with briers and dandelions with the odd daisy pushing up here and there. I don’t know why I ever visit that garden, but I do.

The Greatest Landscaper of all creation has been weeding out my garden for several years now. You’d think a person who has a professional “gardener” come in would just stop fussing and just enjoy the scenery, but no … not me. Of course, I do appreciate the garden and I certainly see the work He’s done, but to tell you the truth, I seem to spend far too much time focussing of the little weeds that seem to sprout from time to time.

That old serpent loves nothing more than to scatter bad seed in our fertile minds and then sit back as hope that we’ll choose to get out the watering can. Every gardener will tell you weeds will grow. You can spend hours and hours lovingly caring for your garden, but the next morning – or maybe the following day - you’ll surely find a little sprout that doesn’t belong there. The enemy will always sow bad seed, and bad seed grows. But having a weed or two in your garden doesn’t mean your flowers won’t blossom or your plants won’t produce fruit.

God has worked so hard healing the soil and sowing; He seems to be happy with His work. Maybe I should just sit a spell - rest in Him - appreciate His work and let Him worry about what He plants.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NIV.

Trying Too Hard

If you’re anything like me the struggle to live in balance is like sitting on a teeter-totter at the exact moment that your friend leaps off. The most often heard words for the first 15 years of my life were “you’re not trying hard enough!”

I always wondered, and still do, if you are trying is it possible to try harder? Is it a question of quantification? Can a person try harder than their best? If you try less than your best, are you even trying? Is it any wonder that people get stressed out in life?

At the beginning of my relationship with the Lord there was a great sigh of relief in my life. I think for the first time I can remember I actually felt relaxed. I felt accepted. I felt loved. I felt as if I was enough, but wasn’t limited to remaining as I was. I just was – no need to try – I just was.

It only took a few years however for me to realize that, occasionally, I find myself straining under the pressure of being, striving, and achieving to be better than . . . well – better than that – whatever that is. It’s in these times – when the vein in my forehead starts to pop – that I hear the Lord whispering to my spirit, “Don’t try so hard.” I like that. Are you trying too hard?

“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light,” Matthew 11: 28-30.

Guilt, Fear and Promises

My grandmother was a wonderful, God fearing woman. I lived with her for some time. She was the only person in my life who told me that she loved me and nothing would ever change that. When my parents weren’t around she would take me to church – something they would have never approved of. She had significant influence over my life and my beliefs.

Every morning, Grandma would make herself a cup of tea and place two sugar covered mint leaves on the saucer beneath her cup. She had a tiny silver spoon that jingled as she stirred the milk into her tea. She’d take a sip and give me one of the mint leaves. I loved that spoon. The only time she used it was in the morning when she sat with me. It was shiny and special. One morning I pilfered it and hid it inside a napkin and placed it under my pillow.

That night, Grandma was getting ready to tuck me in. I had been feeling guilty all day. I loved her so much but I really wanted that spoon – something to remind me of her when she wasn’t with me – it was like a little piece of her. I knew she was upstairs waiting to tuck me in and my fear that she had found the spoon under my pillow made me queasy. I didn’t want to disappoint the only person I was sure loved me. Gran sat on the side of my bed and pulled the covers back while I got in. She gave me a kiss on the forehead and began walking away. I couldn’t let her walk away but I was afraid to face her. “Grandma,” I called out as I took the spoon from under my pillow, “remember you said you’d always love me, no matter what? I took your spoon.” I stood on the promise she had made to love me no matter what and faced my fear because of my guilt.

Jacob had a similar experience. He had stolen his brother’s blessing, but Jacob didn’t hang around to face the music - he high-tailed it out of town. Years later he heard that Esau and his posse of 400 were on their way towards Jacob and his family. Guilt and fear abounded. Jacob sent his men ahead with a peace offering but the fear didn’t subside - the fear for himself and his family. So what did he do? He did what he knew best to do – he prayed. He prayed to God. He wrestled with Him until he was blessed and he stood on the promises God had made him. He walked behind God to meet his brother and was met with an embrace.

Not everyone we’ve hurt will embrace us when our paths cross; reconciliation does not always bring about restoration, but one thing is sure, if we ask Him, God will go before us. We can always stand on the promises of God.

After the Fire

Life can be pretty frenetic from time to time. Many people seem to live in high gear from one situation to the next. A hectic and cramped packed life doesn’t leave a lot of time to be still and even those who were once considered laid back have long since forgotten what being still is all about.

Some people just barely find themselves getting over one life event before the next one seems to steam roll over them. And yet, ironically, those who think these things always happen to them seem surprised when the next train wreck happens.

When I gave my heart to the Lord, I really (no really) believed that life would be easy, or at least easIER. At the sign of every upheaval, I began looking to God in expectation that He would manifest Himself by signs and wonders – soothing and smoothing over my little life situations. After all – He’s God!

But it dawned on me that there’s more to a relationship than counting on someone to help you out when you’re jammed up. God doesn’t want to only hear from us when were at the scene of a fire or at the site of an earthquake. Frankly, we long to hear from Him most in these types of situations but our hearing’s not so great during those kinds of times.

These are the times when He longs for us to come alone, to a quiet place, while He whispers in our ears – a place without distraction – just long enough for Him to encourage and strengthen us – just long enough to unburden and refresh us – just long enough to hear us tell Him how very much we love and appreciate Him – especially during these times.

“and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice,” 1 Kings 19:12.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Yes! Yes! I can hear you. I hear every word you say, I know every thought you think. I’m with you. Yes! I’m here, always and forever.

I know you’re beginning to think I’m not listening or that our connection has been broken; it hasn’t dear heart. Every prayer you pray I collect in a bowl, waiting for the perfect moment to pour out blessings upon you. I’m not ignoring you. I’m not disappointed in you. I love you, with all my heart, without condition. There is nothing you’ve done to change that. There is nothing you can do to change that.

You will hear me again, know this for sure. The din of this world is making much static, but I’m still on the line. I won’t hang up. Quiet yourself. Find a place of solitude and meet me there, you’ll find less noise on the line. You’ll hear me. You might have to try a few times, but please don’t give up. Don’t give up on me for I will never give up on you. My heart is for you - all the way. You have my full attention.

You said you wished we could talk the way we used to, we still can, if you cling to the Hope I’ve given you. Nothing has changed – this is a temporary situation. You’ll see, soon you’ll understand everything. Let this be a time that drives your passion for me to persist regardless of what is going on around you. You will hear me again, I promise. You can stand on that promise. For all the promises I’ve made to you are the foundation of an everlasting covenant. You are mine! Stay on the line!

‘And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an 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 the sound of a low whisper.And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him,’ 1 Kings 19:11-13 NIV.