Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Moving Forward

Have you ever had God talk to you....not in a quiet whisper as He sometimes does but in a BIG way? Sort of like a good wonk on the head? This past Sunday was one of those head-wonking kind of days.

I was sitting in church when the pastor started to preach from Exodus chapter 14. The gist of the story is about how the Israelites were penned in by mountains on both sides and with the Red Sea in front of them. The Egyptian army was hot on their trail. They began to wonder what in the world God had done to them?! To bring them out of their bondage in Egypt only to let them be killed by the Egyptians or to be dragged back to Egypt--back to slavery? God what were you thinking?!

God brought them to that point to show them that He and He alone was going to take care of them. He allowed them to witness a miracle. He allowed them to see Him at work, up close and personal. Oh, to be those down trodden Hebrew people as they saw the Red Sea part into dry land. How must it have been for them to walk through the Red Sea with water piled up on both sides knowing that their God was working on their behalf? What about turning around and seeing the Egyptian army drowning as they attempted to cross after them? Don't you think that event left a memory forever etched in their mind? God is capable.

Pastor said that we should remember to MOVE FORWARD. Do we feel penned in by life? Do we have huge mountains on either side of us and a scary, deep sea in front of us? We know that if we precede ahead that we will drown for sure? Well, move forward! God requires of us to have faith. Faith that He knows exactly what to do. That nothing surprises Him and He knows the plans He has for us. God is a God of miracles.

God spoke to me on Sunday, just as surely as if He had physically been sitting in the chair next to me.  "Dawn, this year has seemed like huge mountains of problems for you. The choppy dark sea is the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Don't forget for one second that I already knew what this past year would hold for you, just as I know how I will bring you through it. You will get to see me at work....and you will remember this time in your life. You will remember that I have been faithful in the past and I will be again. I am still a God of miracles."

Just as I was mulling this sermon over and seeing how it applied to my own life I happened on an article from a magazine I had bought the day before. (The magazine is Life:Beautiful) Me happening on this article was no mistake. I am going to quote directly from the article entitled, Caffeinated Life written by Max Lucado.

" So make friends with whatever's next. Embrace it. Accept it. Don't resist is. Change is not only a part of life; change is a necessary part of God's strategy. To use us to change the world, He alters our assignments. Gideon: from farmer to general; Mary: from peasant girl to the mother of Christ; Paul: from local rabbi to world evangelist. God transitioned Joseph from a baby brother to an Egyptian prince. He changed David from a shepherd to a king. Peter wanted to fish the Sea of Galilee. God called him to lead the first church. God makes reassignments. "

I think I'm ready embrace the changes that my life has taken. I'm not where I expected to be at this point....but, if it's part of God's strategy--part of His plan, then I'm diving into the sea. Head first.

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