Election

This whole election season has been one big, orchestrated performance with puppets prancing around the stage executing their assigned parts while inciting fear and anger in those who put their trust in man. They don't notice the strings.
I am so thankful that no matter who the frightened audience members select to lead them at the conclusion of this production, the sovereign God; The Great I Am. He who was, and is, and ever will be, owns the theatre and has complete control over the cast.

"It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes."
"The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Psalm 118: 8-9,3

Music

God is that song. The one whose rhythm effects my whole body and I have to move. That infectious melody that I can't hear enough times so I continuously hit repeat to experience it again. The volume on my stereo won't go loud enough to do it justice. I want to crawl into the beat and live there. I want it to pulse through my veins. I want to eat it and have it live in my belly. He is. God is, that song.

Morning Noise

Some days when I sit down to try to be still before the Lord, the noise of other things that I need to do is so loud that I am tempted to abandon this time, beg a "rain check " and run after those things with louder voices. Doing so, however, means flesh wins. Flesh wins and useless things that are not based in eternity win. Useful endeavors with eternal value will wait patiently, while I meet with my director. Useful things are subject to His directive and will pause until those orders are given.

Cloud

I have been thinking that there might be a reader or two that followed our adventure in the desert and wonders how that all panned out. With those people in mind, let me testify.

Early into my blogging, I posted that my husband had lost his job. This came on the heels of a self-employment endeavor from which he received no income for almost a year but had incurred some debt as a result of the overhead associated with running a business.

I later blogged about the bank threatening to foreclose on our house, about my dad having a stroke, about a fire caused by a defect in our clothes dryer that left us temporarily "homeless" (I acknowledge that the word homeless is a giant misnomer since this world is not home, anyway) and at the tail end of this string of unfortunate events, how my body declared "uncle" and fell prey to illness. It was a ride. I was back on the Ferris Wheel that I blogged about in one of my initial posts. Let me tell you what I saw this time:

I witnessed He who is in me, being greater than he who is in the world. The bank threatened us day after day for almost a year with harassing phone calls, while repetitively telling us that they could offer no solution to our dilemma except for a short sale or deed in lieu (until I cried foul and told them to stop calling and just do what they needed to do.) In the end, though nothing had changed in our finances and we had long since stopped asking, the bank suddenly decided to refinance the loan and we are still in our home.

I watched The Great Physician bring my dad back from the stroke restoring his mobility, his verbal ability, and his cognition.

I saw God's perfect timing. The funds from the fire claim came through just days after signing the refinance documents with the bank. Because the loan was in good standing, those funds allocated to repair the damages to our house were not confiscated by the bank but were used for their intended purpose.

I saw all things work together for our good (being that we are called according to His purpose.) That fire only damaged the dryer, its contents, and caused smoke damage to a few things that we could live without and/ or needed to replace, anyway. No one was hurt. The contents that were damaged have been replaced and there is not even the smell of smoke.

I learned how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The doctor and the specialist that I visited gave me a diagnosis that had "no cause" and "no cure." The doc let me know that there was nothing "natural" that I could do to correct the condition and the specialist prescribed a toxic cocktail of prescription drugs. The Great Physician told me, in my quiet time with Him, that I was going to be all right. He then directed me to a naturopathic doctor (my 3rd) that specialized in these things, who helped me discover what the underlying cause of my condition was and helped me regain my health. No pills required; Just the tools that God has provided.

I stood with God and watched him take loaves and fishes and turn them into more than enough with some left over. When my husband did find a job after being laid off, the pay was significantly less than he had been receiving. It seemed that our budget had already been thin but, somehow with less than before, every need was met. In the midst of the leanness, God amazed us by providing for every. single. situation. And, we were able to sow seed elsewhere.

And, last July, I saw a fist in the sky the size of a man's hand. My hubby began to excel in his new field and I could smell rain on the horizon after the long draught. In December, he received a year-end bonus that blew our minds. We were able to pay off all of our debts, with the exception of our mortgage, and end the year unshackled.

So now, after that long dry season, with a body that is once again able to, we are simply dancing in the rain.

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Word Play

It occurred to me today that anytime anyone disagrees with the popular cultural sentiment, the dissenter is automatically labeled a "bigot" a "hater" or "phobic". Is it no longer feasible to respectfully disagree with someone? Isn't it still possible to love someone who has an opinion or even a worldview that differs from one's own?

There are times when my husband, my children, or my closest friends and I disagree even after thoughtful conversations during which we've heard and understood each other's perspectives. In fact, there are times that I disagree with myself. (I want to be disciplined and resist that second bowl of ice cream but, it's just so good...)

The truth is that, in none of these scenarios is there any love lost. Disagreement doesn't equal hatred. Nor, does it equal fear. In fact, it takes courage to go against the tide. But, love speaks up.

"Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" John 8:32

Open Season

My son came to me dismayed this morning and said "They are killing my people." I inquired further and he mentioned the recent shooting in Carolina. It is just another in a string of violence against people of color in this country. I haven't heard much about this incident, but shared his sorrow as he filled me in on the details.

Then it occurred to me, as I sat silently before the Lord, that the enemy has declared Open Season on black people. I am witnessing violent acts with my own eyes not seen since the tumultuous era marked by the fight for civil rights in the sixties. And while I realize that the underlying causes of this issue have never been resolved, things seem to have come to a boiling point, once more.

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The key is understanding WHO the enemy is. It's not gun-toting, folks. It's not the police. It's not even white supremacists. The enemy is Satan and his demonic host. It is he who has declared open season and he will don whatever disguise is necessary to accomplish his mission. He has similarly declared war on family.

The only answer and our only hope is found at the cross. We are engaged in an ancient spiritual battle which has already been won. Nothing short of accepting that victory and turning our hearts to The Savior, who conquered Satan, will do.


"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" Ephesians 6:12

Reassessment

So I have to admit that I have been kicking around the idea that perhaps I had reached the end of this blogging experience. Maybe I have said all that needs to be said aloud and should retreat to my personal journals to satisfy my writing "jones". Maybe the world has moved past blogging.

But, at the end of the day, this blog is not now, nor has it ever been about me. I am not here to win a Pulitzer. I am here because, as I've established from the inception of this thing, I felt a tug on my heart to serve as scribe and witness to my amazing God. So, as God gives me the words to say, I will continue to be a very small voice proclaiming his goodness in the overwhelmingly loud wilderness that is the internet. It is my honor to serve.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9