It's raining, it's pouring, and the old man is snoring.
Well, big ole blobs of rain are dousing my house with "rumble rumbles" sprinkled in between, but what I'm mulling over is the "old man" part. I'm gonna get real, and please forgive me for sounding irreverent. But sometimes I feel like that... when my faith gets itty bitty and the rain drops are real big and I'm like - Lord, are you snoring or what??? I've been praying and waiting and... nothin. OR devastating evidence that leans in the OPPOSITE direction.
I woke up this morning hearing myself say something in a dream that sounded like, "Why do you insist on me reading Luke 7:15?" I actually read that verse and verses that precede it yesterday, so it makes sense that that would come to mind, but I don't want to over-rationalize the significance.
Luke 7:15 (King James Version)
15And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
The whole story can be found in the beginning of Luke Ch. 7. It's familiar probably... Jesus sees a woman overcome with grief, a widow who has lost her only hope at a life without poverty and begging. Her only son has died. At first, in my self-centeredness... I thought: What? I'm not a widow. I have two living children. This is not the situation I've been dialoguing about nonstop Lord. Without hanging out all of my heart's details, though they are many and twisted and dripping... I'll share what I'm trying to learn in reality.
The Lord, bopped me upside the inside of my head and said in my spirit, something like, "duh, I MAKE THINGS NEW. I BRING THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE. HAVE FAITH." He that was DEAD, SAT UP.
Belle just came in, read the last lines, and smiled and said "hmm, is that a Bible verse or something?" Precious.
OH! What does that faith really look like? Jesus, I know you did and can and will, and You, oh Lord, will have to stretch my faith and move. I can't do anything. I can hardly keep the dust off my furniture (oh, who I am kidding - I can't keep it off), much less uproot evil. LORD, MOVE.
"We often think receiving what we've been guaranteed ought to be a cakewalk, but Scripture shows the opposite is more often true. The most profound things God promised were often fulfilled against the greatest odds and through the most difficult hardships. To God, faith is often the point - God does nothing cheaply. Perhaps the divine nature of a promise fulfilled guarantees its expense. We may receive a hundred unexpected things from God with delightful ease while the fulfillment of some of the things we believe He promised us proves virtually impossible. You see, the impossibility is what makes the fulfillment of the promise fall under the God category. God makes promises man simply can't keep."
B. Moore, Patriarchs
God, Lord, the Creator, creator of rain and booming thunder, wake and move, Lord. I vow to bring you all the glory, Oh God.
3 comments:
incredible incredible incredible.
i love it when we get real with God. and I know He likes your spunk-churning-to-deep-water faith! thanks for the blessing of this Word illuminated through your tussle.
Oh this is so good. I love what we can take from Luke 7:15. You are so right, it's not just about a widow. It's about bring life to anything dead...and we know He can do it. I can so relate to you regarding my faith being itty bitty at times wondering are You doing anything Lord. I chuckle at the way you put it...are you snoring Lord? Are you sleeping on the job with my request, my life, my need, my heart torn in two?
I love this:
We may receive a hundred unexpected things from God with delightful ease while the fulfillment of some of the things we believe He promised us proves virtually impossible.
Oh yes, God has provided me so much and has blessed me beyond anything I desire. Yet, what I believe He wants to do seems so impossible as I've not seen the first morsel of evidence of Him moving or transforming my beloved's heart in the direction of reconciliation.
Post a Comment