I have many really intelligent friends. They all tell me that if God wanted to make himself known personally to them, He would have by now. Sure, I see that, I can almost understand it if it weren't for the fact He has done that many many times. Let's take a look.
In Genesis, two people could not have had closer contact with God. If they had moments of doubt, all they had to do was call out His name. They ignored him and did their own thing anyway.
In Exodus, as God thundered on the Mountain while talking to His chosen man Moses, if anyone doubted, all they had to do was touch the mountain and die. I'm sure many of them did despite the fact that they had been told not to. They could hear the Great I Am talking in loud tones to Moses. They managed to ignore it all and build a bull to worship with Aaron instead. Face palm.
King Solomon built God a temple that was legendary. It was a wonder of the world! When it was done to the letter, God filled the temple with His glory so thick the priests could not move. One son later, Israel was split into two pieces and riddled with an idol to Molech problem.
Jesus came with outstanding miracles that rose up the dead, calmed the storms, and fed the herds of people. Blind men saw, leprous men were cleansed! We killed Him. He raised Himself up and we still don't see it.
Do you catch my jive? Do you buy what I'm selling? It works differently now. Things have changed. God will work behind the scenes in a hidden way in your life until you take that first step of faith. When you open your heart to truly believe, then the peace, miracles, spiritual healings, and grace are rained down with abundance. God now waits to show up until you move.
You must take that first faltering step, and when you do, you'll find you were pushed by an unseen hand into a Kingdom that is very real and filled with wonder and grace.
I am plagued by a spirit of perfectionism. Whenever we have guest in our home I resolve to be relaxed, casual and spirit filled. To welcome guests into our home with a warm smile and a hot cup of java, and cookies, fresh baked cookies! I envision having uplifting conversations with first-time guests, and deep meaningful talks with life-long friends. To use our home as a blessing to others.
I do just fine cleaning up the house and preparing the food, but then something happens right at the last minute. It is as if I walk through my home with eyes of a foreigner. A terribly opinionated, judgmental and harsh foreigner. I see all the messy corners, and all the fingerprints on the walls. And the piles, oh the piles that I just cannot seem to keep from forming in our lives. Piles of things to give away, piles of things to sort, piles of importance. Ugh. I become a hectic hot mess within. You may not always see it, but my heart is scurried, and overwhelmed. This is a behavior I must stop. I remember this behavior from so many ladies that came before me, and I do not want this to be a legacy.
Then we were invited to our dear friends home. They just had a beautiful new baby, and finished up a huge remodel on their home. We were welcomed with warm hugs and the conversations were sweet and rich. We were blessed. And there were piles. Piles of things to be sorted and put back into the new home, piles of laundry worn by five beautifully loved children, piles of toys and art supplies and books. Those piles were beautiful. They represented to me so much grace as God spoke to my heart that night. Not once did I think of my dear friend in any negative way, not like the way I speak to myself before opening our home.
Lord, I need your thoughts and your priorities to reign in me today, and everyday as we open our home to your people.
As I was preparing to teach this lesson, I paused to recollect a few of the times God has helped me face a giant. The first that came to my mind was last summer when He provided a way for my newborn son to be transported by ambulance. I had spent most of that summer in a hospital almost two hours from our house because it was the closest hospital that performed fetal blood transfusions, which my son needed to have done more than once. We were told when he was born that he would likely be in the NICU for 6-8 weeks. Since I had already spent so many weeks so far away from my husband and other two children, I desperately wanted to have him transported to a NICU much closer to our home. The NICU staff told me that the insurance would not pay for his transport and that it would cost somewhere between $750-$2,250. We were already facing the possibility of owing thousands of dollars for medical bills from the pregnancy, so we did not feel we could afford this expense.
I mentioned this to a friend on the phone, and she said she would gladly contribute toward the cost. She asked me to find out the exact cost and post it on Facebook. I did as she suggested and was stunned when someone from my church sent me a message saying she and her husband wanted to pay the entire bill. I did not know this family very well, and they were very willing to pay a $1,500 medical bill on our behalf. I knew our insurance was accepted at the other hospital because my other two children had spent their first week or two of life in that NICU. However when the insurance was notified that we were paying for our son to be transported to the other NICU, they said they wouldn't pay his medical bills at the other hospital because the billing would be too complicated. The medical staff submitted an appeal on the basis that I was providing our baby's milk, and they finally agreed to pay his medical bills at both hospitals. As the explanation of benefit documents began arriving in our mailbox, I was amazed to see that the insurance even paid for our ambulance ride. The Lord used the couple's offer to be the catalyst that brought me closer to the rest of my family, even though in the end they did not need to contribute a dime toward the expense. What a mighty God we serve!
It seems that lately everything I have been reading and hearing in my devotionals, in church, and in conversations has had to do with God's love for us. Most of us who were raised in church have been taught that God loves us, but do we truly comprehend just how great and amazing His love for us is? We are human, with emotions that ebb and flow based on how we are feeling about ourselves, our lives, and how things are going at any given moment, and we tend to view God and His feelings toward us based on our own experiences and emotions. Some days, when we are feeling great, we feel as if our love for God is a 10/10. Then we have a bad day, and may feel that our love is only at a 7/10. Then we begin to believe that His love and feelings work the same way. "I yelled at my husband and kicked the dog today, so God couldn't possibly love me as much right now." My dear friends, we could not be more wrong in our assessment of Him! He loves us with all His heart, soul, mind and strength! His love for us never, ever changes. No matter what. He calls us "Beloved." His love for us is unchanging. If we could only wrap our small human minds around that fact, it would settle so many things in us! I heard a minister say "Keep your eyes fixed on what is unchanging (God's love for you!) and He will settle you." I find that to be so true! When I focus on my failing and fluctuating love and devotion to Him, I struggle with guilt and shame, but when I focus on the fact that He loves me the same no matter where I am in my walk with Him, it settles something deep inside me, and frees me to love Him with abandon and to share that love with others.
We love Him because He first loved us!
Get ready to see a whole new era in healthcare.
I work for a chiropractor. I have seen many lives saved and improved by the three different chiropractors I have worked for over the past 9 years. I have seen insurance laws and changes that make me go, WHAT? Really!? The rejection codes that are being sent for claims lately, don't even make logical sense at times. Yeah, it's becoming interesting.
You have no doubt heard the news, that insurance laws are changing and healthcare requirements are now boarding on the ridiculous. You may be for these changes or against them. Either way, change is coming. I'm not trying to frighten you or tell you something you shouldn't already know. The simple fact is that things on this planet are getting worse and we have already been forewarned in God's word.
About 7 years ago, a gifted friend told me, "one day, the healthcare in this country will not be what it is today. At that time, God's children must rely on Him to care for them, rather then the medical world." Let me think, asking the Great Physician, who made me and knows my inner workings to fix me? Ah hello!! After He says, ask and you will receive, seek & you will find, knock & the door will be open to you! But, but what if God is simply not in the mood to heal you then? One may think, give me western medicine and drugs, or knowledge of natural cures, remedies and vitamins, just in case. Ah, but at that juncture, are those not idols? Something you rely on instead of God your Father? Ouch, that hurts Sonya, don't go there. I am not saying or suggesting that items that have the ability to bring you back to health, weather they be natural or pharmaceutical, are evil. I am merely pointing out, that we, even God's own children, don't rely on Him to care for our mortal bodies as we should, myself included. Instead we rely on the use of what He has created and the knowledge He has given, to help that process along. AHHH, now we're getting it.
God works all things together for good to them that love Him and are called according to His purpose. Even disease, sickness, discomfort and distress over our mortal bodies and their frailty. Sometimes, we rely on the things He has given to heal us, rather then God Himself, to bring about healing and health. We may be removed from some of the items that have helped us in the past, but that isn't always a bad thing. Perhaps God is simply readjusting our focus to be fully on Him, and His power, rather then the knowledge of doctors, pharmaceuticals, natural herbs and supplements to fix our bodies. Hmm, it's just a thought, what if we fully began, before the tough changes occur in healthcare, to trust God? Even begin to ask Him what He would have us do, if anything, other then exercise the faith He has given us? Just a thought......
October. The first week of the month. This marks one year since our lives were blown apart. Our household that held 6 children abruptly changed to 3. We have been bombarded daily (no exaggeration) from within and from without. Relentlessly...
BUT.... MY ANCHOR HOLDS!
Beautiful day. Beautiful life.
Seems like you're on top of this big world
Got it all in your hands
Then something comes 'round from the blind side
Unexpected, unforeseen, surprise
Now you have to change plans
You're caught off guard, wondering why
You were not prepared to see your world
Spinning out of control
You reach out your hand trying to find
Something to hold onto through the night
That will anchor your soul
'Cause sometimes you run
Sometimes you walk
Sometimes you barely even crawl
Sometimes you soar
Sometimes you fall
Just know that He is with you
Through it all
Sometimes those toughest moments in our lives reveal the ever constant presence of our God that may be overlooked or taken for granted on a good day. And even though the pressure may still be on....we are never alone.
At the moment I am teaching a class on Shakespeare for the LMHSC Muskegon Co-op. The poor thing has been trampled over by the ancient literature class I'm teaching, but I still have a lot of reading to do. This week is Macbeth. I had been concerned about how dark the play is for the kids to read, but this is Shakespeare. He always repays reading. I usually find something newly made interesting with each time I read the plays, this pass I can't stop thinking about the witches.
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