Sensitivity to God's Voice

Last week I allowed my mind to dwell (too much!) on concerns about how long it will take to begin making some money in our new business and, I admit, I was worrying. There have been so many needs in our home lately between clothing, illnesses, and various household needs.... I had to keep reminding myself that God had once assured us that He would not allow our flour and oil to become empty until the rains come again. Saturday, I was mopping the kitchen and thinking about the various things we needed and the "enemy" was attacking and putting fear and doubt in my mind as to whether the assurances had really come from God. I prayed about some needs and "reminded" the Lord about the situation. In God's fashion.... Sunday (the very next day), a woman walked up to me and said, "God laid it on my heart to give this to you." It was a lovely card with a money gift inside.

Again, I find myself marveling at how a person who walks closely with the Lord can hear His voice and just know what they need to do. And more amazingly, they just do it, rather than doubt it! Sometimes we tell ourselves to wait until we're sure.... until God writes it on the wall or bonks us on the head or something... but he rarely works that way. It reminds me of a beautiful passage I read the other day.... (yet again in the story of Elijah!)

11 And He (the Word of the Lord) said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;

12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire
[a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice.

13 When Elijah heard the voice, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?

from: 1 Kings 19, Amplified Bible

We are blessed to have friends, family and church family who have responded to God's still, small voice in so many ways. I pray for the same sensitivity to God's voice in my own life. You all are an example to me in many ways!

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Nothing to do with job search, but...

Our son and daughter-in-love came by our house this week to tell us that they found out she is pregnant! Of course we were shocked and surprised... but very, very happy.

Yesterday, I heard from my "dil" that her progesterone levels are too low which is bad for the pregnancy. They are going to put her on some progesterone supplements and hope that it will solve the problem. The neat thing about it all is that her Dr. appointment was Wednesday and she knew she'd be hearing from the doctor the next day.... so it was difficult to get up and go about the day like it was "normal". She went to her voice class at the college on Thursday, and she and her teacher always begin by talking and praying together. So, she told her teacher about the pregnancy and the progesterone levels, and poured out her worries. The teacher told my dil that she'd miscarried once due to low progesterone levels.... which was hard for our dil to hear, of course. But, it was also good for her to have someone to talk to who had been through the same worries and concerns. Then, her teacher began to talk about about God's will and how important it was to follow Him in every detail of our lives, even when He seems to be telling us to do something that doesn't make sense. The teacher then told my dil that when she was getting ready to leave for work that morning, she felt God was asking her to put something in her purse that didn't make sense. But, she it in her purse anyway because she had such a strong leading to do so. And now, she said she knew what she was supposed to do with that item. She then reached into her purse and handed it to my dil... it was a little stuffed baby bunny. An amazing reminder that God is aware of what is going on.... and that He is sovereign and in control of it all.

I'm thankful that her voice teacher was sensitive to God's voice and most of all, obedient in doing something even when it didn't make sense to her. (Who would think that it was reasonable to put a stuffed animal in your purse to go teach at a college!) What a lesson, huh? It seems to be a lesson God is showing me again and again. When God puts a thought in my head or a nudging in my heart... I should not hesitate, but rather, just do it.

Please pray for our son and daughter-in-love and the baby. And most of all... please praise Him for his lovingkindness.

God bless you all.

God's Prompting

We attended a youth ministry meeting this Sunday and found out that between now and Christmas there were many youth events that have costs attached. The Wednesday night Bible study the youth are beginning was $10 a book. There is a youth conference the youth are attending later this month, which is somewhere around $45 per student, plus another $30-40 or more that we need to send for meals... and that doesn't even include any spending money for miscellaneous things. Then the Dare2Share student conference is coming up, and they want us to pay for it now... it is also around the same cost. As you can see, it adds up quickly, and then we have to take it times 3 (because we have 3 youth).... that's a lot of money.

The kids can work and raise some money on their own, but their being able to make that much money so quickly was doubtful. For Mark and I, it is hard to know what to do.... even if we have the money to pay for the trip in our checking, we don't know how long Mark will be unemployed, and that causes to think the money we do have in our checking should only be used for house payment, insurance, food.... We doubt whether we should be spending money on youth trips, yet the youth trips are an important part of their spiritual growth. It's hard to know the right thing to do. I left the youth meeting with a knot in my stomach. I told no one but God about my concerns. No more than an hour later a woman came up to me and pressed some money in my hand and said, "Use this how you want, but it should be enough to send your kids on the next youth trip and pay for the Bible study materials".

It still amazes me when this happens. One of the most incredible things is knowing that God must nudge a person's heart, and they respond immediately to that prompting. It is such an example to me, as to how I should respond when God prompts me to do something. How many times have I failed to do what God asked me to do and miss out on blessing someone? It really sickens me to think that there may have been someone praying about an issue and God prompted me to do something.... and I didn't react immediately, then ended up forgetting about it... Did God have to go to another beliver to answer that prayer because I failed? I truly pray that I will never, ever allow that to happen.

In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing. (2 Timothy 2:20-21 The Message)