I'm Ready To Listen

The news on TV can be stifling. People expressing their views about the news can be unnerving. Reading the newspaper is depressing. Magazines distort or embellish even the lies. More and more people wonder what truth really is and where they can we find it. Or buy it. Manufacture it. Make it. Or possibly create it.

I was sick and tired of being sick and tired of it all. So I decided I was better off being uninformed since I was having trouble shoveling through the mirage of “truths” to find a kernel of truth or none.

But let me share something with you. There are several verses the Lord has placed before me recently to pray over and remember as the Truth. I wrote about one in my blog post, Do You Believe.

The second verse God offered me was 2 Chronicles 20:12. I sat with this one a long time, holding it in my mind, and marinating in its profound lesson.

God hit the nail on the head with this one. It wasn’t the first time I had read it, but now its nuances became clearer. The words went beyond a physical army, applying to all aspects of life and living, and wrapping its meaning in the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. God verified this by sending me to other verses about His Truth and Sovereignty.

Proverbs 19:21 Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail.

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be frightened or discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Isaiah 45:6-7 This is so people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides Me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Psalm 22:28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations.

Hebrews 2:8 Now in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside His control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him.

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the Truth; Your Word is Truth.

The verses came through devotionals, Bible study, faith-based blog posts, and sermons my pastors preached over a six month period.

The vast army Jehoshaphat faced was fearful. It was vast. The armies coming down on God’s people were fearless, mighty, and evil. Much like those people I heard about on the TV who were doing evil, despicable deeds. And scarier were those heinous crimes committed in my country and worse my hometown.

Jehoshaphat gathered the people together and went to God in a bold prayer-cry. Jehoshaphat asked God, “Are You not the God who is in heaven, and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?” God’s people knew their God and expected no less than His full deliverance from their attackers.

Here goes several life lessons God placed on my heart:

1.Go to God immediately with your concern.

2.Pray BOLD. Your God wants you to state who He is and then confirm you know He can do all things in His will and timing!

3.The vast army going against God’s people, instilling fear in their heart also occurs today. Satan, our enemy, tries to defeat us and disillusion us by distorting the truth in order to take our eyes off the Almighty God.

4.And don’t think it’s all about the horrid things on the news. That vast army is also the day-to-day mess we find ourselves in – being overwhelmed, frazzled, disappointed, angry, unforgiving, gossiping (yep, that one, too), and faltering in the steadfast knowledge that God is over all things, including rulers and nations. That’s Satan’s playground, too, trying to keep our eyes on worldly things.

The Battle is the Lord’s. Our job is to keep spreading the Good News, and at the same time, to keep vigilant by staying in Scripture to be able to detect lies and deception. We need to lift up our greatest gift to the Father, our worship and praise. Let Heaven ring with our rejoicing. Joy will overflow on us. That’s worth singing about and listening to.

Let God’s blessing flow over you,

(Opening picture is from Dear God Kids series book, Guess What, I'm Ready to Listen Now!; Flying Frog Publishing, 2011)

Do you believe?

Several weeks ago I began whining about my health, lack of energy, and feeling overwhelmed with life. I prayed, but the words I uttered sounded like whining, too. Frankly, I was getting tired of myself.

During all this boo-hooing, I kept doing my Bible study. One morning I ran across Matthew 9:28 and I stalled, reading it over and over again.

“Do you believe I am able to do this?”

All those “I” statements came rushing back to me. I can’t do this. I’m too tired to do that. I wish I could crawl under the sheet and stay there until I feel more like me.

I . . . I . . . I.

So I kept reading the verse. Did I believe God could do this? Handle all my mess? Could I trust Him enough to get it done?
Then the absolute unimaginable sentence slipped into my mind. Would God do it the way I wanted it done or would He change things . . . or change me?

Wow! Now I had shifted the whole ballgame. God was asking me to put my full trust in His delivery even when I didn’t particularly like His response. So I spent the next few weeks listening, waiting, doing less complaining, and a lot more praying.

I began each day in prayer. And I prayed over what I had on the calendar and asked for God’s guidance on every bit of it.. At first it was an inner struggle. If I sat down, my knees would bob up and down. My grandmother used to call it the St. Vitus dance. I never asked her what it meant, and I’ve used the expression many times; so I looked it up.

“Sydenham’s chorea, historically referred to as Saint Vitus Dance, is a disorder characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements primarily affecting the face, hands, and feet. “

In my case, it was the legs. But the action actually began to calm me down. Don’t ask. I’m strange. Ask my granddaughter, Jackie. She shakes her head and smiles as soon as I begin to explain the oddities of life. Don’t ask about that either.

At the end of each day, I began to see God’s hand in every movement. The layout of my plans under His direction began to have a rhythm. The most important things were done first. There was no mayhem anymore. And no . . . I did not complete everything on my list. That’s the beauty of it. I realized I didn’t need to.

That’s when I began to feel the internal change. The power from within that could only have been from God. I became excited to visit Him in prayer each morning and dedicate my list to Him. Before long, I felt at ease prioritizing my list, keeping a separate list for things “I’d like to do”.

The internal change became an outward change. My legs quit bobbing when I sat in silent reflection and prayer. Yes, I was still tired, but I also began stopping during the day. I started coloring. Yep . . . coloring! I kept a table set up with colored pencils and beautifully illustrated scripture sheets from a coloring book I bought at a Margaret Feinberg Women’s Conference. Even if I stopped for 10 minutes, it gave me time to breathe deep and reflect.

It’s amazing how revived I became and was able to accomplish more than I could have imagined, even doing things not on my list – mailing cards and calling family and friends.

It’s been eleven weeks. Eleven weeks of believing Jesus can do this. My Bible study has gone deeper. My prayer life has accelerated. Knowing that I need the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, and yes, Life Planner, too. I need Him in the extremes of life and in the everyday planning of it.

Thank you, Jesus, for standing by me and showing patience in my angst. I’m still tired, but You are helping me manage that, too. Bless you for loving me to the uttermost!

God bless you!