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Monday, June 18, 2012

Hope

Of all the books of the Bible, the one I have liked to read and underlined the most is probably Isaiah. I love the story of Hezekiah and how his future was changed. He became ill and the Bible says, was at the point of death. Even Isaiah came to him and said essentially, "This is it. Put your house in order.You are going to die." But it says that Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and cried out to the Lord. Sometimes I think I know just how Hezekiah felt. This is such a descriptive statement when it says that he turned his face to the wall.  Haven't we all done that during a crisis and said, "God, I just don't know what to do. Please help me!" Then God told Isaiah, "Go back and tell Hezekiah that I've heard his prayers and I'm adding fifteen years to his life and also I will deliver you from the hand of the king of Assyria." If I were Isaiah, I think I would have said, "Couldn't I just have told him all this to begin with?" But it must have been important for Hezekiah to hear the bad news first so that he would pray. I would rather skip the bad news, too. Wouldn't you? But the crying out to God cannot be skipped.


source - Time magazine


Sometimes God has shown me things when I have least expected it. I'm only sharing this to encourage someone. I am not setting myself up as an example of a great person of prayer because I am far from it. But one morning I was making the bed. I suddenly saw (in my mind's eye) a lady dressed from head to toe in black. I knew she must be from an Arab nation. I also knew that she was in deep distress. This all occurred in a matter of seconds. I wasn't doing anything spiritual. I don't even remember if I was praying while making the bed.  But I stopped and prayed for her until I felt like she was out of danger. This was a few years ago and to be honest, I don't remember a lot of the details apart from how she was dressed. But a short time ago, I was in the kid's dentist office, reading a Time magazine. I was reading about Syria and all the turmoil that is going on there right now. I turned the page and saw a photograph of a lady dressed from head to toe in black. She had on a long black gown and the black head wrap and veil. I'm not saying this is the lady I saw that morning several years ago, but she was dressed the same. I'm sharing all this to say that sometimes God uses our own circumstances in extraordinary ways.

I think that if life always went the way we would like it to go, we would be limited in certain areas of our life. Because we live in a fallen world, we are going to have to go through some hard things from time to time. There are times when you are not going to receive an explanation as to the why .  You are just going to receive the bad news as Hezekiah did. But those are the times that will make us or break us. I really am speaking to myself, also. I am tired of bad reports from doctors.  But on the flip side, those bad reports cause me to cling to God. And during those times, He reveals Himself to me in extraordinary ways. He wants to do the same thing for you.

Most of my days are very normal and are just like any other mom's day. There is laundry, meals, cleaning bathrooms, ect., ect. But there is always a heart's cry going up. "God, deliver us. God help me. God, I need you. God don't be silent. God, You must come through in this circumstance." Sometimes I literally sit in my closet and pour out my heart until there is nothing left to say. But there is an assurance that God has heard me. I don't have dreams and visions and angels coming down to talk to me, although that would be great! But every now and then, the Lord lets me experience something that is apart from my problems and a part of something bigger.

I was reading from Isaiah this morning and I was struck at the number of times it says how God, "stretched out the heavens". He is always reminding us of how He has created the heavens and the earth. He placed the stars in their positions. He wants us to know how big He is, yet his concern over each one of us is so personal. He was concerned for this lady, whoever she may be, and had someone far away pray for her safety. She matters to the Him.

When we receive news that is hard to hear, the important thing on our parts is turning to God and crying out to Him. Things may not get instantly better. You may not have a prophet come to you and say, "There's been a change of plans." But God will use your circumstance to your benefit. I am saying this totally by faith, because I really and totally don't like a lot of our cirmcumstances a good share of the time. But despite them, He has shown Himself faithful to me. As we draw near to God, He in turn, will draw near to us. During those times, He will speak to you and direct you to pray for others who are going through their own cirmcumstances and your heart will have been made tender for them.


"We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle." Oswald Chambers

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