7
April
Go Tell It…
As I see it, faith is the hard thing. Believing in what we cannot see right now. Believing when we don’t understand. Living a life that requires God to show up. And do something…
Instead of living within the boundaries of what we can pull off on our own.
To me, it feels like a high dive jump. I lose my breath. I have no control. I feel overwhelmed. And terrified. I free fall in His faithfulness – the only real way to experience it. To know it and trust it next time.
Come and listen, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what He has done for me
(Psalm 66:16).
Okay. In the interest of giving Him a complete shout-out for His faithfulness, how has He proven faithful in your life? What was your greatest high dive, and how did He come through for you?
As a disclaimer:God is always very faithful in my life just not always when I want or expect it…but going along with your analogy of the high dive…I went to the end, then jumped as I felt I was supposed to…however, there was no water in the pool! Right now I am wandering around in that empty pool, banged up…and the crazy thing is there aren’t any ladders to get out! Just keep running into high, hard walls. Now I do know He is in here with me and He will eventually fill it full of Holy Spirit water…just hasn’t happened yet. Just had to share the picture I have been given this week. (The Word you serve up is oh, so good! Thank you!)
Midge
Hmmm…when I thought he was asking me to apply for summer missions in Romania. I was the very last applicant out of many..and they picked ME!! He was so mighty in so many ways that scary, thrilling summer:) When we heard Mark’s work was experiencing lay offs & I was terrified…He asked me to trust Him…that He had this. And boy did He. Mark’s dad passed away around that same time & so Mark had paid time off when he was laid off to grieve & rest. God showed up BIG TIME through little & big blessings from friends and His Church. Then he brought Mark another job JUST in time. He’s good like that. And NOW through our adoption journey. We are currently free falling. I feel like this is more than a high dive, maybe skydiving is a better example:) The wind is in my face and my stomach is in my throat, but the funny thing is He’s got this…and I know that. He is ALWAYS faithful, ALWAYS good.Hebrews 11:1 says it this way, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see.” I don’t see the end but I’m enjoying the journey b/c I’m riding on His lap, with my arms around His neck.
I used to love to dive when I was growing up. You find you’re able to go off higher and higher diving boards with experience. Thankfully, God teaches me that way too.
One of my high dives was accepting a position with an international ministry where they were establishing a new center. I went through every dollar I had to find that God would just have people send me a check in the mail when I wasn’t going to get an allowance check. Every time He was faithful and took care to see that our needs were met.
The journey with Him is much more of an adventure today as the diving boards get higher and higher. It’s my goal to live a good life story – not a boring, safe one – so that He is what I stand on, even if it feels like it’s miles high.
Great teaching Monday night. Thanks, Cookie.
Blessings,
Robin
I can think of a few pretty big high-dives. Choosing not to do life alone. Opening up, sharing my circumstances and my story–that was a whole season of high dives that has led to some serious blessing! Amazing community, real-deal healing, and a much more intimate relationship with Him.
Quitting my job last year was another one. He told me I was done teaching as clearly as I’ve ever heard Him speak. I didn’t know what He had in store, but when I took that dive He began to show me how much better He could do for me than a job I was not passionate about. Less than a month later I found out I was pregnant–after almost 2 years of waiting and hoping He would answer that prayer. And He has used the past year of unemployment to help me hone in and focus on what I am passionate about–allowing me to partner with a dear friend in this crazy cool ministry :).
I’ve pondered this for a couple of days now and God has definitely brought several “high dive” moments to mind…moving from Anderson, going to Kenya, ending my teaching career…just to name a few, more recent ones. However, the thing that has been pretty heavy on mind this week has to do with a season of waiting at the end of the high dive. God has had me here for years now…standing on the high dive without permission to jump. Sometimes we go to the end and I think we’re about to make the plunge, and then He pulls me back…never far enough to back down the ladder, but just far enough to make it clear that it’s not time to jump.
These questions constantly come to mind…does He even intend for me to be on this high dive? Did I miss that moment when He said “jump” and now I’m stuck?
That’s when I have to remember God’s faithfulness. I have to remember what His voice has told me in the past…”climb that ladder” and “stand still”. And then cling to Philippians 1:6 that He will be faithful to bring to completion what He has started.
I like Heather have been pondering and thinking about my “high dive” moments. I guess there has really not been a “high dive” moment but more of taking a step and watching Him prepare me for the next step, then the next step and so on. I look at the story of David when Samuel came to tell him he was going to be king. He went back out to herd his sheep the next day and the next as God was preparing him for the day when he would take on the role of king. Many years went by before David was given the kingship. Lots of grooming and learning went into David’s life. I believe that God is calling us to do the same thing. I just finished reading a book by Rob Brendle called IN THE MEANTIME THE PRACTICE OF PROACTIVE WAITING. I highly recommend. When we are called by God for a certain purpose, does not mean it is going to happen this instant. In Jeremiah 29 God tell us what he wants us to do while we are waiting. God tells us “I know the plans I have for you”. We need to spend the in between time trusting, seeking, and looking to Him for the calls fulfillment while we seek to grow, stretch, and forge usable tools for the thing He has called us to. He has us totally in His hands! We just have to wait until He is ready to put us in the role He has called us to. It is His timing that is perfect not ours. Once you have answered the call, the perfecting or molding us for the role begins. We just have to keep looking to Him!
My high dive moment was when God told my husband and children we were moving to Oklahoma in 1999. We sold our home, had no jobs and no place to live and no friends when we got there. We arrived in Broken Arrow on a Friday, moved into our house that Sunday and meet our new neighbors on both sides of us. And within 1 month we had jobs at ORU, that was a blessing because we only had 1 car between us. We lived there for a year until God sent us back home. We got our home back that we left, that can only be God.
Oh Cookie–there have been so many ways that God has shown me favor and faithfulness and so many times. The easiest one to cite lately would be with Rob’s opening and closing the business. Each time that was a huge leap of faith financially, and each time God provided for us in such an amazing way. It is easy to say you know God will provide, but when your bank account is truly empty and you have bills that you know you won’t be able to pay without some supernatural help, it really tests what you believe at your core.