This has become my daily ritual. I'm up again at 4 a.m. praying and praising. I opened my Bible and found this:
The Power of God in His Deliverance of Israel
Psalm 114
When Israel went out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion.
The sea saw it and fled;
Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams,
The little hills like lambs.
What ails you, O sea, that you fled?
O Jordan, that you turned back?
O mountains, that you skipped like rams?
O little hills, like lambs?
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob,
Who turned the rock into a pool of water,
The flint into a fountain of waters.
This psalm spoke to me so clearly of God's mighty and wonderful deliverance of His people. The sidenotes in my Bible say, "The Lord delivered them from bondage in Egypt, He parted the sea as they came out of Egypt, and He parted the Jordan River when they entered the Promised Land."
Sometimes in our lives, God has to deliver us from a situation...even though it may be a painful experience. There are times when He must pluck us out of our situations in order that we might see His majesty and tremble in awe of His power and presence.
I woke up this morning and God reminded me for the 47th time, "Kaylan, I am El Shaddai...I am All-Sufficient. I am much bigger than what you give Me credit for. Look at what I've done: I've parted the waters so my people could safely cross, I've turned a rock into a pool of water, I've raised a dead man from the grave. Do you not believe I can work a miracle in your life as well?"
Genesis 17:1-2 says, "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.'"
If anyone needed to know and understand El Shaddai, it was Abram. He and Sarah were childless, yet God had promised to bless him and give him an inheritance. But instead of waiting on God, Abram took matters into his own hands with a handmaid, Hagar.
Abraham moved forward on his own and didn't wait on the Lord. He didn't fully trust that God would fulfill His promise, so he found a temporary fix until the Lord was ready to come through for him.
Some time later, God finally revealed Himself to Abram as "El Shaddai" and commanded him to walk before Him and live blamelessly. In her book, Lord, I Want To Know You, Kay Arthur says, "God [gave] Himself to Abram, and then Abram perfectly [gave] himself to God, and by God [Abram was] made fruitful."
I have been struggling with whether or not I should move forward on my own to temporarily "fix" my situation or wait on God to fulfill His promises and plan for my life. I think I've found my answer.
All of my rambling just goes to show that I am finally recognizing what God is teaching me through all of this: He has delivered me from my situation, He is still the great I AM that works miracles today just as He has since before time began, He is my All-Sufficient Protector during this time of desperation, and I am to wait on Him to fulfill His promises in my life.
So for now...I am going to claim Genesis 17:1 (among the many other verses I've claimed thus far) and recognize that He is saying to me right now just as He did thousands of years ago to Abraham, "I am God Almighty...El Shaddai. Don't forget that. Walk before Me by faith and be blameless."
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Worry vs. Faith
I'll be the first to admit it. I have always lacked self-confidence and worried about things in life. These two things are obviously detrimental in a devastating and desperate situation such as now. Tonight...I opened my Bible begging God for a fresh perspective on His next move for my life and I found this in the side notes:
"Worry is always wrong, for it paralyzes active faith in your life. When you worry, you assume responsibility for things you were never intended to handle. Jesus repeatedly taught: 'Do not worry,' even about the basic essentials of life (Matt. 6:25-34).
Worry divides your mind between useful and hurtful thinking. Worrying does not change anything (Matt. 6:27) except to draw your focus away from God and His faithfulness and
righteousness to concerns about the things of life, such as possessions and material goods
(Matt. 6:31).
Worry is a choking, harmful emotion that saps your energy and elevates human strength and ingenuity above God's strength and His purposeful plan. Sources of worry include change, lack of understanding, and lack of control over your life. Worry opens the door to
worldiness, that is, preoccupation with the things of this life.
Though the children of Israel had watched God split open the Red Sea to deliver them from Egypt, they could not believe He would provide water in the desert to meet their needs. Worry is the opposite of faith, suggesting that God cannot be trusted to take care of you or to provide what you need (Phil. 4:19). Worry causes fear to crowd out faith.
Thus, in the final reckoning, 'the cowardly' are listed alongside the 'unbelieving' (Rev. 21:8). Linking worry with unbelief, Scripture gives direction for a return to full faith. The road from worry to faith begins with recongition that worry is sin and confession of lack of
faith (Ps. 139:23), continues with deliverance (Psalm 34:4), and finally ends with the assurance that absolutely nothing can separate you from the love of God who is the great I AM (Rom. 8:35; Ex. 3:14-15).
In place of anxious thoughts, you then freely offer thanksgiving from a heart established with trust in God as all sufficient (Psalm 112:7-8; Phil. 4:6-7)."
Very wise friends of mine--Tom and Brenda Bailey--who know my situation probably better than almost anyone else, just today shared with me these words spoken by Jesus to His disciples (Mark 6:11): "And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"
Wow. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). I must remember that I serve El Elyon, God most high...and El Roi, the God who sees all things. He's not been surprised by any of this. Instead, He purposed it for my good and His glory.
"Worry is always wrong, for it paralyzes active faith in your life. When you worry, you assume responsibility for things you were never intended to handle. Jesus repeatedly taught: 'Do not worry,' even about the basic essentials of life (Matt. 6:25-34).
Worry divides your mind between useful and hurtful thinking. Worrying does not change anything (Matt. 6:27) except to draw your focus away from God and His faithfulness and
righteousness to concerns about the things of life, such as possessions and material goods
(Matt. 6:31).
Worry is a choking, harmful emotion that saps your energy and elevates human strength and ingenuity above God's strength and His purposeful plan. Sources of worry include change, lack of understanding, and lack of control over your life. Worry opens the door to
worldiness, that is, preoccupation with the things of this life.
Though the children of Israel had watched God split open the Red Sea to deliver them from Egypt, they could not believe He would provide water in the desert to meet their needs. Worry is the opposite of faith, suggesting that God cannot be trusted to take care of you or to provide what you need (Phil. 4:19). Worry causes fear to crowd out faith.
Thus, in the final reckoning, 'the cowardly' are listed alongside the 'unbelieving' (Rev. 21:8). Linking worry with unbelief, Scripture gives direction for a return to full faith. The road from worry to faith begins with recongition that worry is sin and confession of lack of
faith (Ps. 139:23), continues with deliverance (Psalm 34:4), and finally ends with the assurance that absolutely nothing can separate you from the love of God who is the great I AM (Rom. 8:35; Ex. 3:14-15).
In place of anxious thoughts, you then freely offer thanksgiving from a heart established with trust in God as all sufficient (Psalm 112:7-8; Phil. 4:6-7)."
Very wise friends of mine--Tom and Brenda Bailey--who know my situation probably better than almost anyone else, just today shared with me these words spoken by Jesus to His disciples (Mark 6:11): "And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"
Wow. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). I must remember that I serve El Elyon, God most high...and El Roi, the God who sees all things. He's not been surprised by any of this. Instead, He purposed it for my good and His glory.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The Raging Storm
Dark, scary-looking clouds riddled with doubt and fear of what was ahead rolled into my life almost a month ago. Then the thunder came shortly after, and rattled the walls of my security sending me racing for some sort of shelter.
Needless to say, I've been running around frantically for three weeks trying to take cover...somewhere, anywhere.
But today, lightning struck leaving me in complete darkness with nowhere to hide. And almost immediately, incredible winds of circumstance blew in knocking me down and stripping me of what little certainty and foundation I had managed to hold on to.
In my time of weeping and sorrow today, I began to listen to praise songs and I came across a Casting Crowns song that described my situation perfectly—"Praise You in This Storm."
After I listened to every word, I made the decision to quit running around looking for the first shelter available. Instead, I decided to just stand out in the middle of the downpour with my arms outstretched and give what I have left—my praise and myself—to the Lord.
He is bigger, more sovereign, and more holy that I could ever imagine. No one can ever mess up His plans or thwart His purposes. And I must remind myself that I am blessed with a new day each morning that I wake up to serve Him foremost and fully, and not man.
Even though these are dark days for me and the storm still rages, I'm determined to praise Him in the midst of it all.
Needless to say, I've been running around frantically for three weeks trying to take cover...somewhere, anywhere.
But today, lightning struck leaving me in complete darkness with nowhere to hide. And almost immediately, incredible winds of circumstance blew in knocking me down and stripping me of what little certainty and foundation I had managed to hold on to.
In my time of weeping and sorrow today, I began to listen to praise songs and I came across a Casting Crowns song that described my situation perfectly—"Praise You in This Storm."
After I listened to every word, I made the decision to quit running around looking for the first shelter available. Instead, I decided to just stand out in the middle of the downpour with my arms outstretched and give what I have left—my praise and myself—to the Lord.
He is bigger, more sovereign, and more holy that I could ever imagine. No one can ever mess up His plans or thwart His purposes. And I must remind myself that I am blessed with a new day each morning that I wake up to serve Him foremost and fully, and not man.
Even though these are dark days for me and the storm still rages, I'm determined to praise Him in the midst of it all.
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