A little while ago I wrote about that which I felt like people needed to hear in this day and in this time that we live in... I wrote that it didn't take a prophet to tell people that financial times of trouble were upon us or that natural disasters were happening. That people could watch for themselves their own bank accounts or CNN to find those things out.
For days now I have felt many things stirring in my heart and it started like this... I was driving out of our development .. heading out on some errands.. nothing special was on my mind and I was just driving towards the exit when I felt this impression upon my heart....
They will care about one another... neighbor to neighbor.. they will care about one another... one will have this and another will have that.. and they will care about one another....
I thought it strange and I paused at the stop sign longer than usually. Somewhat knowing that which the Father was wanting me to get a grasp of and somewhat waiting for more...
I lived on the outskirts of NYC during the preparation for the non event of Y2K. But amidst all the talk and all the speculation there was this call to be prepared for yourself... Store up and stack up and be prepared... the new year came and went and we all moved away from that... NO I am not telling you to go stack up and store up at all....
But as I sat by that stop sign... a sweet sweet presence of the Lord settled and I knew that once again there were things that weren't spectacular... weren't going to give me the prophetic word of the hour and all the hub bub that goes along with that... but that were true and were powerful and were tools for people to move through this time in life in a way that brings forth life and liberty and not fear...
In 1 Kings 17 we read the account of the widow giving up the last of what she had for Elijah. Instead of dying and not having enough.. they all ate..
8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. 14 For thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.’” 15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah.
Acts of faith.. that brought forth the capacity to feed more than possible .. longer than thought....
I sat there at that stop sign and thought about all the fear that gets put out there... lack of jobs.. lack of funds.. so much lack... and yet the promise of God is that those who seek Him will lack no good thing.... "But I need a job," " I need to provide food for my family," there is need out there... legitimate need...
In Psalm 34.. we read:
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
9 O fear the LORD, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
There is a peace that passes all understanding... and in this time and in this season of our lives we must treat living in that peace as a search for gold or precious jewels... it will be that which will keep us and guard us... Isaiah 26:3 tells us..
" You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You."
This is that that I will speak of and this is that which I will say... on the day of natural disasters would it not be a picture of who we are in Christ to speak as Jesus did to the storm on the Sea of Galilee and say to the trembling earth.. "peace be still.." and have it be so... on these days of financial hardship a picture of who we are in Christ is to take from our lack or to take from our plenty and seeing another in need know that we can supply that need for our need will be supplied when it comes time....
We must be of those who know their God.. I must be one who knows Him.. who knows that CNN and the world news does not get to rob my peace with all that is happening but that I can stand in a place and look into the eyes of my neighbor and say.. this is what I have... and give... and when I have nothing more to give than I can say.. "Silver and gold have I none but rise up and walk..." I want to know who I am in Him ... I need to know who I am in Him.. I want to take Him at His word and walk according to His ways and His truths and not back down to fear...
There is truly so much more to say than financial ruin and natural disasters are ahead of us.. more than the fact that there is so much more to say .. there truly is so much more to walk in....
May the peace that passes all understanding dwell deeply within all our hearts and guard our minds.. setting our hearts on things above .. on Jesus.. Father.. Holy Spirit... Citizens of another place living forth from that other place here upon the soil of the earth...
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