Focus On The Promise Through The Journey

Sometimes, when we've been walking through our journey for so long we can end up losing the focus of our actual destination. God gives us a promise, but when more time than we were expecting passes, it becomes harder to see "it". We question, we cry out, we even lose hope for a sec., but we never give up. I've always had a saying ever since I gave my life over to Jesus and encountered Him: There's no turning back anymore no matter what, no matter how hard it gets my only option is to move forward.

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."  -Martin Luther King Jr.

God never said the journey of this life would be easy, but he did say that the arrival would be worth it! -Max Lucado

I've been asking God the same question over and over and over again for quite some time (years) and today I was just stopped by Him. He reminded me of a prayer I made when I was 15 years old and how He answered the beginning of it during that time. To me the little sign I asked God for at the end of my prayer was just a quirky inside joke between me and God, but he answered it. I joke with what I ask and He jokes by responding super quick. You see, the problem is that I expected that my whole prayer list would be answered and packaged up to be delivered to me all at once, but God's ways were different. He said it would be given to me but He didn't say when or how. My journey to the promise has been a rough one, I can't deny it, but I have come out a stronger woman who God intends to make stronger.

One Winter day during the Festival of Dedication, Jesus was confronted by the Jews who were also walking along in the temple courts. They surrounded Jesus and asked him "how long" he planned on keeping them "in suspense" and to just tell them "plainly" if he was the Messiah. While I was reading this story this morning in John 10:22-30 I knew without a doubt in my mind that God was talking to me. I had been crying out asking God to please just speak to me in such an obvious way because I couldn't get it, but He said to me that He already answered my question many times but I just wasn't seeing what He wanted me to see. I just wasn't getting it. When I started my walk toward the promise I was so sure, but then things got so scary bad that I let my gaze become foggy. I felt frustrated like those Jews did (of course I wasn't going to stone my Savior but I let anger and confusion get the best of me) because though they had heard the promise of Jesus' coming written in scripture, they let their gaze become foggy by what was said to them:the scriptures said that a Messiah was coming in a humble manner but it didn't say his name or the fact that he was going to be a carpenter's son.  The promise was delivered to them in different circumstances than they had expected in their hearts so they closed up their hearts and refused to see that God was living among them. The signs and wonders made it obvious but to believe meant that they had to be closer to faith and farther from their expectations. I knew that I couldn't take my anger and frustration out on my God, so instead...I took it out on the promise. That's a big no,no. I was so busy comparing my walk to others and asking God why others were happy with their promise fulfilled while mine seemed to be getting crazier and even more unpredictable. The thing is: God is not a cookie-cutter God, so He created individual people with individual stories. It's easy to buy into a one-for-all solution but that's just not true. We have to seek God's counsel directly from Him and then wait for His confirmation (through His word, dreams, people...etc). This whole week my seeking an answer for my question really escalated, and I see now as I write this that God has been answering me. Every morning with what I've been reading in the Word He's been answering me. It all connects. How God showed me in the Book of Genesis that he had to open Hagar's eyes to see the well of water so that she wouldn't let hopelessness in the middle of the dessert kill her and her son Ishmael, how God protected and cared for Ishmael as his only Father after he was rejected and sent away as God's plan to create him into a strong nation, and also how God looked into the heart of Rebekah and predestined her to be the wife that would say yes to an unpredictable marriage to Abraham's son Isaac. God spoke to me in detail about these stories all week long and finally I understand. Jesus was obviously the Messiah and my answer has been obviously staring me in the face for years. Jesus' answer to the Jews in the temple was this:

(John 10:27-30) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

I am so sure of my salvation in Jesus and that He abides in me and I in Him by His grace alone, therefore my ear is in tune to what He's saying. The devil sometimes wants to make us doubt that, actually, the enemy always wants to make us doubt that because His mission is to kill, steal, and destroy us. I truly believe that Jesus wasn't just answering the Jew's questions...He was making a bold statement and letting the devil know that what belonged to the king of kings could not be taken from Him even by the thieve of thieves. We belong to Jesus and the devil has no right to touch us and our God who is greater can not be over-powered. I realized that the reason that I haven't responded to the many voices around me for years telling me to go this way and that way is because I've been fleeing from the other. I was once told a great truth: the devil takes no breaks and shows no mercy. He will use whatever he wants to use in order to kill you because your purpose threatens him. That goes for all of us. The enemy has tried to make me believe that I'm crazy for not listening to who I "should" listen to, dumb for "failing" those who I shouldn't, or just plain disobedient and worthy of receiving God's punishment when that is not true. Because the people around me have also seen the dessert that I have walked through with my promise in hand, they give advice out of hopelessness when I have been called to walk by the amount of faith that God has given to me. My walk is mine, entrusted to me by God and nobody will ever confuse me enough to snatch it from me. I am to complete my mission until I see the fulfillment of what God has promised me. I encourage everybody who reads this...stand strong and firm in the faith. Keep pressing forward with your eyes focused on the promise as you walk this life-long journey. May faith arise and I pray that hope sustain us through.

Springs in the Struggle

(Psalm 84:4-7) Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

There are so many times where I've just gotten a super quick reply from God. I'm talking in the blink of an eye type of fast. But other times it feels like forever. I had been praying for the Lord to speak to me. Now I know this sounds so under decorated but why not be real, right? I prayed. Days past. I opened my Bible. God spoke. As I began to read through Psalm 84 my spirit leaped inside and I just knew that this word was for me. What I've gone through in the past few months did change me. It changed me for the better. God made me stronger. The way I think, the way I talk, and the way I see life has changed. I've learned that "the struggle" is inevitable so one can either be obliterated by it or empowered by it. There is a true and beautiful promise in this scripture and it is that when we maintain a close relationship with God He gives us the strength and power to even bring forth blessings in the midst of every battle and valley of tears we walk through. What He showed me was that if I set my heart on, if I focus on, continuing and pursuing through the journey that he has mapped out for me then when I go through tough times He will be right there with me showing me that it is possible to have His joy that isn't all smiles and giggles, yet powerful and fulfilling. Not only will I dig and create a dry land a place of springs but He will also send his rain to overflow the season that I am going through. What does that look like? For me it was discovering true friends that prayed with me and encouraged me, to be able to finish two semesters victoriously when the odds were against me, and to receive the answer to my prayers. I continue my journey and I still face many struggles and I know that there are future struggles but I also know that God gave me the power by His Holy Spirit to dig until a spring comes gushing forth to bring life to what was dead. Hang in there folks. Our God is right beside us.

New Season {Daniel Fast}

So many little and big things are changing all at once. Do you ever have any of those moments in your life when the ordinary just isn't the same? You're being drawn in deeper and deeper and deeper into something that you can't even imagine. It's about that time around here in my life and all I can do is seek God's plans and tune into His comforting voice. Exactly four days ago, on Monday, I felt God just snap His finger. I could clearly hear with my heart God saying, "It's time for a new season...get ready." If words could express my every emotion pages and pages would cover the face of the earth. I know, I know, a little too dramatic but in all sincerity I know, that I know, that God is getting ready to surprise me again and this time  my hands are going to be to small to sustain such a blessing and my cup won't even stand a chance against God's loving out pour. When these moments come we have two choices: either embrace them with open arms or run away and miss out on God's purpose. I choose the first one. 

So again, four days ago I began the Daniel fast, just seeking God's perfect direction. It's almost like I reached that crossroad and realized that taking another step is useless without God's sweet, sweet presence and guidance. I've dealt with being stripped of all that I held near and dear but this, this is different: I'm looking for true worship and communion that no human can ever take away. A beautiful relationship. I want more and more of God each day, hour, and second. So far, the fast has been going great because I feel the Lord's strength, otherwise this would not be possible. These past four days I have embraced fruits and veggies and now call them friends. Thank God for our local Farmers market and my 1.5 liter water bottle is not too shabby either. The plan is to do a 21 day fast with prayer and word as my true food source. Some might view a fast as torturous, I know I used to. I would bring up any emotion or medical excuse to why this was illogical (apparently I thought myself more brilliant than God at 13). Ever since I fell in love with Jesus all my inhibitions and doubts went down the toilet because I would follow Him with eyes wide open anywhere. The truth opens your eyes, it does not bind you and blind you more and more. Why would the devil want the children of God to fast and pray? The result is excuse after excuse. But in all honesty when God calls us to do something He provides us with the strength to overcome all obstacles. I'm a full-time student and still have the energy to walk to and fro from my classes and then exercise every night. I give all the glory to God for this. Medically this is impossible but with God all things are possible. I don't care what the world frowns upon because I am not of this world. Because we are here for a purpose we have to strengthen and feed our "spirit man" so that we have the faith and conviction needed to move mountains, love one another, forgive, and rejoice. It's possible my friends and if God is tugging at your heartstrings then fall into His arms with eyes wide open. I just wanted to share with you all a little of what's been going on in my personal life. Hopefully this'll inspire somebody out there to know, I mean really know, that we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us.

(Daniel 1:17) God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.