Jan 13, 2021
I am following Nehemiah's example and weeping, mourning, fasting, and praying for our nation.
Here is where I think we are in this situation in our country:
I think we may be in Exodus 14 :).
In Ex 14, the Red Sea is being divided and God's chosen people are about to go free. The Israelites are about to walk on DRY GROUND (have you ever seen a drained lake? It isn't DRY).
There was a wall of water on their left and a wall on the right. There was a "way of escape". There is always a way of escape with the Lord!
"Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters--
a pathway no one knew was there!"
Ps 77:19
The Egyptians continue to pursue them right into this pathway. Next the Lord looks down from heaven and throws the very organized Egyptian army into confusion. I love the next part...
"And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty;
and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
I think we are going to see miracles this week. We are dealing with an organized army of people fighting against God and His Bride.
I am anticipating them to be thrown into confusion and for God "to take the wheels off their chariots".
They may just be walking into a Red Sea trap. It is fun to watch how just when the enemy boasts that he has the people of God in check, God says,
"check-mate".
I could be wrong but I am praying for that and watching for it.
But, here is the good news! Our hope is in the Lord just like Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego. We KNOW He is able to save but even if He doesn't!!!! So, even if He doesn't throw this army of misguided people into confusion, then He will still protect us. You can see in Isaiah 65 that there is a distinction between wicked people and His true servants. And their experience in trial is much different. (This is obviously talking about Israel but the Word of God is alive and active and speaks into OUR lives and our situations.)
“But I will not destroy them all,”
Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
So, even if wheels don't start falling off their wagons, there is still supernatural protection found in being a true servant of God.
I am burdened to get ready for what is coming. I am not adopting the "fortress mentality" of building a bunker and hiding in it with 1,000 rolls of toilet paper.
We may be hiding in caves eventually, I don't know.... but for now we have to stay true to mission and GO into all the world with the gospel!
I am stockpiling the Word of God and food in my house because I want to be ready for the days coming. Not only for my family but for hurting people. People who need a warm meal, the word that sustains the weary, and a safe place to run. The Bible says the Name of the Lord is strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. I want our home to be symbolic of that verse. God is definitely answering that prayer as our home is full of people coming in and out. Some for comfort-food and some for comfort-counseling from the Word. Some to play ultimate frisbee. :)
(warning: always be discerning about who you let into your home. The enemy will do sneaky stuff if you aren't discerning. He is cruel and loves to sneak into Christian homes. I am not as ignorant as I used to be.)
The gift of hospitality has never felt more special than it does now. We need to be getting our homes ready to share... and to simply love on people.
"Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay."
1 Peter 4:9
We are headed into some major spiritual turbulence, no doubt.
People say, "I am not buying into the conspiracy theories". Ok, fine, but you DO need to buy into the "signs of the times". Jesus said some people know more about the weather than they do about the signs of the times.
"You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times!" Matt 16:3
Joseph was warned of things to come and so he prepared. Noah was too. Think of how they must have mocked Noah for buying into conspiracy theory! I think the reason the Prov 31 woman laughed at the days to come WAS BECAUSE SHE WAS PREPARED. As I memorize Prov 31, I see a very wise woman who made sure her family was taken care of. She also opened her arms to the poor and extended her hands to the needy. She had plenty to share. I am not laughing at the days to come yet but having a plan sure does help!
Ask God what to do. He will show you. And when He does, obey! I think God is going to use His true servants in INCREDIBLE ways in 2021. He probably won't if they are in a bunker. He probably will if they are prepared!
Pray and see how God wants to use your family to BLESS others during this time of hardship and darkness. Store up to give. Ask God to bring people to your home who need encouragement. Who knows... an angel may just show up! I want an angel to come spend the night!
"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2
We have to use our freedoms before they are gone.
Or before WE are gone!
Last night, as Tim and I watched the choatic insanity surrounding the new efforts to impeach the President of the United States, I got so discouraged. It just makes me soul-sick to watch people fighting for evil and seem to be winning (they won't in the end). Tim and I got down on our knees and prayed together for our country.
Tim ministered to me so much last night. He said, "Steph, remember how Jesus was asleep in the boat in the storm? It was because the storm was of NO THREAT to Him. These people are of NO THREAT to Him."
That is comforting to think about. That Jesus Christ could be soundly sleeping as they go through these dumb debates. Maybe that is what I should be doing. I don't know. But I do know that Jesus can wake up and silence this national storm at any time. He isn't biting His nails watching this go down like I am, or like the disciples in the boat were. The disciples even asked Him if He cared when they woke Him up from his nap on the cushion.
"Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
Mark 4:38
It wasn't that He didn't care. He was in total control the entire time. He silenced the storm in an instant. He can do that at any point.
As Tim and I kept talking, Tim said, "Steph, what if we REALLY ARE the generation to be raptured? What if we never have to say goodbye? "
(Cue the ugly cry while I fall asleep beside my precious husband. That is one of my biggest prayer requests: that our family would go be with the Lord together.)
What if our generation IS the favored generation that doesn't taste death!?
I think we ARE.
"The generation that never had to say goodbye".
Be ready to minister.
Put your spiritual tennis "shoes" on and get on your mark.
"For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared."
Eph 6:15
God's ways are higher than ours and His thoughts not our thoughts.
No matter what God chooses to do in our country, I am confident of this:
we are going to see the goodness of God in the land of the living.
Don't lose hope!
Steph
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