{IS GOD REALLY THERE??}
Yesterday was an emotionally difficult day for me. Without going into detail, basically it was MULTIPLE big and small LET DOWNS from people I love and trusted. Looking at it from someone else's eyes it may seem silly to be upset about the things that happened. But for me, in that time, it was an overwhelming amount of emotion for me to handle. Thing after thing continued to pour into my lap in an already fragile state and I continually tried to carry the load by myself. I tried to give it to God, (Because His Word says to cast ALL your cares upon HIM because He cares for you- - - Its what Jesus died for! To carry the load!!) ... but I was unsuccessful in giving it all to Him... I needed Him to heal my heart and give me strength.
Sometimes a girl's just gotta cry it out!
So that's what I did. I went to a separate room to be alone and just weep in the arms of my Heavenly Daddy. It was wonderful. Although even after I came back into church to worship, I still wept, being comforted by The Holy Spirit. Through my tears God was healing me. There were many thoughts going on in my mind. I wondered if I was invisible, no one seemed to notice or really want to confront me while I was in such a blubbery state...
It wasn't until communion that my wonderful friend and sister in Christ, Rosie came to me and looked me in the eye with concern and compassion and asked me what was wrong. I fell in her arms and began to weep some more... I was a mess. Thank GOD for her!
Not just her-- Thank GOD for people that are SENSITIVE TO GOD's SPIRIT! ... We need more people like this!
We prayed and God further comforted me through her wonderful prophetic words. She didn't know what was wrong, but God did- and He spoke through her.
{DOES GOD SPEAK?}
Have you ever done that? Just opened up your Bible and let The Word speak to you? ... I like to do that a lot. Some people might think that is silly or irresponsible, but I trust that God will speak to me every time, and the more "random" it is, the more I hear God's voice! :)
There was a reason I kept opening to Zechariah... but I didn't know it. So I read it and I fell asleep- and took a nice little nap.
My night was wonderful. All things that stirred up during the day had calmed and I was finally healed and resting in God's arms.
{OK, GOD- YOU'VE GOT MY ATTENTION}
You guessed it! Zechariah....
Now by this time....GOD'S GOT MY ATTENTION....
And as always... God is NEVER late with getting through to His people... He knew how many times I'd need to see this random page opened up for it to catch my eye.... He also had a perfect plan with WHY He was showing it to me and WHY I had the experiences I had the previous day...
Before I tell you how God spoke to me through this. . . I'll tell you this: My experiences the day before led me to believe God wanted me to share my experience with our Pastor. Our Pastor is also one of our closest longtime friends, and a wonderful understanding man. I felt God had given me that experience for a reason- and now it is confirmed...
In March God had given me a WORD of GROWTH about our church. God laid it on my heart to pray that it would grow 5 times in 6 months! ... Now I didn't know for SURE if that was GOD speaking, or if I just "randomly thought of some numbers".... Well after a couple of months of just trusting it was a word from God and praying it into existence. God showed me something significant about it. . . 5 times would equal about 100 people-- (and once you break 100 the growth explodes- which I didn't know) ... and the 6 month mark would be our ONE YEAR mark of the birth of our church! .... Now TELL ME that's not significant.... and I'm telling you- its NOT a coincidence... as I continued to pray about this growth- God also spoke to me about how He was going to grow the DEPTH of the church... That He wanted the people in leadership of our little church to grow in great depth before He would expand the church. There was a period of time shortly after this prophecy that our church began to grow rapidly. In one month we went from about 20 people, to 35, and the next week to 48! It was amazing! And after this, it was back at a steady 20.... But it didn't discourage me. As I prayed about it God spoke to my heart and said ' I was showing you how rapidly I will be growing your church- now it is time to focus on your depth' ...
{BEING HIS HANDS AND FEET}
I felt God wanted me to encourage our Pastor to encourage the flock to not be afraid to be the hands and feet of Jesus... going through my distraught state was an interesting experience. Now I'm not sure if most people didn't really notice, or if they were too afraid. I don't know for sure. But I know that I am close with MOST of them- and I know I was trying to avoid them because I didn't want to disturb their time of worship or preparing to worship... BUT... I felt that I had an encouragement for our small body of believers. That we need to have the COMPASSIONATE EYES OF JESUS...Because even though I was close with them I was STILL trying to avoid them, even though deep down I wanted their comfort.
If I were a stranger in that service, I could have felt alone, or ashamed of my uncontrollable weeping and may have left because of my discomfort. And how much more awkward is it (IN OUR FLESH) to approach someone who is broken or crying when we don't know them? BUT.... here is the wonderful thing. God used Rosie to comfort me. And not only her, at the end of the service I was approached by a wonderful woman in our church, Dana. She approached me with a big hug and an invitation to prayer. God does work wonderfully through His body if we allow Him.... Again- it's that sensitivity to The Holy Spirit...
Now I'm not expecting every person to come running to me asking me what was wrong. But God gave me HIS eyes this morning... what if a seriously hurting person walked through the doors of our church? What if they didn't know the power of God? What if they were hurting much worse than I was? Would they KNOW the LOVE of GOD through our actions? Most hurting people would try their hardest to mask it- they would put their guards up- they would probably not admit their hurt even if you asked how they were doing.... Now here comes our job as God's people to put on the COMPASSIONATE EYES OF JESUS.... If we allow The Holy Spirit to lead us, He will show us people who are hurting. Body language can tell you a great deal!
I urge you my brothers and sisters- WHEN you see a hurting person (not if you do) ... Don't be afraid to approach them with boldness and a hug. Don't be afraid to say, "ok, let's go pray-" or "whats going on".... Just REACH OUT... because PEOPLE NEED THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!
{THE WORD OF THE LORD- ZECHARIAH}
As I opened up my Bible to this one place again- God had gotten my attention, so I began to ask Him why He was showing this to me?
I looked and saw there are 3 main underlined sections that I had previously marked. Briefly looking I saw this theme.... Not by might, nor by power, but BY MY SPIRIT, says The Lord.... Fasting for God.... and INCREASE....
As I looked at these 3 areas on the page in front of me, it was suddenly illuminated. God was telling me something... .That the prophecy was again confirmed... He WAS going to bring INCREASE to our church- He would do it by us FASTING as a church, and it wouldn't be by our might or power, but BY HIS SPIRIT! ... WOW!
{AN EVEN DEEPER REVELATION}
Guess what today is? .... June FOURTH.... and it is our NINTH MONTH of the existence of our church! ....
SERIOUSLY?????
Tell me that doesn't spark your interest?? Tell me you don't get chills...
GOD IS ALIVE!
As I read further He spoke even more... In the same chapter in verses 9-10: "Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion- EVERY ONE to his brother (or sister) ... and do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart" ...
Now I don't know about you, but I'd say that ties in pretty well with what God already laid on my heart about having the COMPASSIONATE EYES OF JESUS...
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